Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

On August 30, 2008 Mister Big was a Breeders Crown runner-up no longer.

Twice before, the gutsy pacer had to settle for second-place money in his Breeders Crown contests. But at Mohawk Raceway in Milton, Ontario, Canada that night, the 5-year-old son of Grinfromeartoear had his connections grinning as he posted a 1:50 winning mile in the $532,150 Open Pace, besting defending champ Artistic Fella (second) and Kenneth J (third).

With Brian Sears at the helm, Mister Big notched his 25th career victory, pushing his career earnings to a hefty $2,946,400 for owner Joe Muscara. Conditioned by Virgil Morgan, Jr., Mister Big became the first pacer in history to win over one million dollars at both 4 and 5, after he posted victories in the Canadian Pacing Derby, the U.S. Pacing Championship and Haughton Memorial earlier this season.

"He loves to mow horses down and it was just up to me tonight to rate him properly," Sears said. "He really was aggressive and I was concerned about moving him too early, but it worked out. He’s definitely one of the greatest pacers of the past few years and just loves what he does."

Mister Big began stalking the leading Artistic Fella and driver Tim Tetrick, who had taken the field through fractions of :26, :54 and 1:22.1, shortly before the half. Deftly rated by Sears, the robust Mister Big collared the leader heading into the lane, and used a :27.2 final quarter brush to draw off by three and ½ lengths.

"He’s a tremendous pleasure to drive and a tremendous athlete," Sears added. "He just loves to track down horses the way he did tonight."

Artistic Fella was the last horse to defeat Mister Big, when he did so in the Ben Franklin Pace at Chester on June 15. The son of Pacific Fella upped his lifetime bankroll to $2,606,240 with his bridesmaid finish for Tetrick.

"Of course you always want to win, but given the track bias that’s been favoring closing horses all night long, I’m not surprised that Mister Big caught us," North America’s leading driver said "This horse has been ultra-consistent all year and I really had to race him a very sharp heat tonight to be second. Mister Big is super sharp right now too, and my horse really tried to hold on, but Mister Big was just too tough."

Mister Big provided owner Muscara, a retired Huntingdon Valley, PA real estate developer who has owned horses since the 1970s, with his first Breeders Crown trophy. Muscara, however, is no stranger to the winner’s circle, having campaigned the great horse Mach Three, a winner of million dollar events The Meadowlands Pace and the North America Cup.

"Mister Big never throws in a bad race," Muscara said. "He has everything you could want in a racehorse—he’s fast, tough and smart, and as long as he stays healthy and happy, we’ll keep racing him.

According to Morgan, Mister Big will race only six more times this season.

"The Breeders Crown was a great topper to a great season," Morgan noted. "Anytime you can win one of these, it sure punctuates your year."

Mister Big Career Statistics as of September 1, 2008
Year Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds   Earnings       Record      Venue & Date of Record
2008     9       7       2       0       $1,254,211     5, 1:48.1F      Chst 06/08/2008
2007      28     12       9       3       $1,310,914   4, 1:47.4M      M 08/04/2007
2006      16      3        3        2       $276,046       3, 1:49.2S      Wdb 10/21/2006
2005      10      3         2        1       $105,229       2, 1:53.0S      Moh 08/02/2005
Pace     63      25       16       6       $2,946,400    4, 1:47.4M