Big Money: Mister Big

By Nicholas Oakes

The $500,000 Ben Franklin final was going behind the gate. Harrah`s Chester track announcer James Witherite-Rieg expected nothing short of a clash of the titans, and Brian Sears had a game plan that was sure to deliver.
The favourites were Mister Big (driven by Sears) with the rail and from post four was Ron Pierce and Art Official – the horse that shockingly upset Somebeachsomewhere in his only loss – but Mister Big wasn’t about to let that happen to him.
“I knew if Ronnie crossed over too easy with Art Official it was gonna be too hard on my horse to make up any ground,” says Sears.
When the wings folded Sears left out, trying to push the pace and keeping Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras) out long enough to force Art Official to post a 25.2 first quarter. Mister Big then drafted to the outside first up but took his time coming next to the front ending Art Offical, until there was less than a quarter of a mile left.
“Three-quarters in 1:20.4. Art Official up the inside, Mister Big on the outside, the battle we’ve been waiting for,” Witherite-Rieg said to the harness racing world that was waiting intently to see who would come out on top. “They’re in mid-stretch and Mister Big pokes a head in front. Mister Big and Art Official – and Mister Big wins the Franklin!”
The time flashed up: 1:48 – equalling Artistic Fella’s world record time on a 5/8’s track.
“That was a dazzling mile,” Sears says. “First up, stared them down, and kept coming.”
That kind of monster wasn’t what Tim Pinske was expecting to get while he looked through the consignment at the Kentucky Standardbred sale. He wanted something to race in the Ontario Sires Stakes and layed eyes on a colt by Grinfromeartoear out of Worlds Sweetheart – a well bred Jate Lobell mare with a less than stellar career on the track (she earned just $750 racing).
“He was a good sized horse,” Pinske recalls of the colt before he bought him for $55,000.
Breeder Kentuckiana Farm then bought back into the colt with a 25 per cent share.
“(Mister Big) was a great looking individual,” recalls Ken Jackson, co-owner of Kentuckiana Farms. “We have an affinity to Jate (Lobell). We find he is one of the greatest broodmare sires the sport has ever seen.”
“We were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.”
In his first year racing for Pinske, Mister Big banked $125,440 and took a mark of 1:53 in a leg of the Dream Maker series at Mohawk with driver Phil Hudon.
“He had a great attitude and a great gait,” Pinske remembers.
In his three-year-old campaign things weren’t quite working out as planned as he had just $124,581 earned after finishing a disappointing fifth in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super final (won by Doonbeg). Then the decision was made to enter the horse in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine and Jody Jamieson was selected to drive, and he didn’t let them down. Mister Big posted a 42-1 upset in 1:49.2 (shaving two full seconds off his lifetime mark) and putting away a field that included top sophomores Artistic Fella, Total Truth, and Shark Gesture.
The next week – in the final – Mister Big finished second to Shark Gesture, ending his season with $312,433 earned on the year and $437,873 banked lifetime.
Jackson then figured the right move was to sell, so the next stop on Mister Big’s journey was the Harrisburg sale.
“Coming off a first in the elim and a second in the final it was an opportune time to sell,” Jackson says.
Meanwhile, Joe Muscara was on the hunt for a race horse prospect but had his mind made up and gave trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. his instructions: get Mister Big.
“He was the only one I wanted,” Muscara says, and after paying $255,000 for the horse and watching him put $3.5 million in the bank, he obviously knows what he wants..
As for Pinske, he isn’t bothered at all by the success that Mister Big has enjoyed since leaving his barn.
“We made money and Virgil made more,” Pinske shrugs. “That’s all right, he’ll be back for more.”
Jackson echoes the sentiment.
“In this game, if you sell one and it goes on and does good and you let it bother you, you won’t last long,” he says. “You wish well onto anyone who buys one from you.”
Jackson takes an extra amount of pride in Mister Big’s accomplishments since his sire (Grinfromeartoear), mother (Worlds Sweetheart – who is currently in foal to Art Major), and maternal grand-dam (Before Hours), were all bred by Kentuckiana Farms.
“It’s great to know that one you raised is the richest stallion of all time. It’s wonderful, that’s what we strive for. A lot of people say the cream always rises to the top and we believe that holds true with pedigrees.”
Coming back to race in January after the sale, Mister Big posted wins in the Willowdale series final at Woodbine, then won the Aquarius series final at The Meadowlands.
Although it’s one you wouldn’t think of, Morgan recalls it as one of Mister Big’s best races in his career.
Tuffofthetoughest was on front and backed down the half in 57.2 with Mister Big sitting ninth. To make up any ground, Mister Big did the near impossible – he came a back half in 52.1 coming three-wide at the three-quarters to do it.
“That was a wicked mile,” says Morgan. “But the mile was only in 1:51.2 so people didn’t really notice. You really have to watch the race to see what he did.”
Mister Big then continued to roll, earning $1,345,840 and winning 12 races – including the Haughton final (1:48.2), the US Pacing Championship (1:47.4 – his lifetime record), and the Allerage at The Red Mile (1:48.1) – all the while being driven by David Miller.
When people think of Mister Big they think of him closing hard or grinding first over but he can fire off the front end as well as any horse, Morgan says.
You only have to go back to his elimination of the Haughton memorial in 2008 to see how right he is. That day, Mister Big was on top at every call, tripping the wire in 1:48.1.
“He’s got a big motor. It didn’t surprise me,” Sears says.
“The way he did it on the front end was a scary mile,” Morgan says. “Anything you throw at him, he adapts. I think that’s the sign of a great horse.”
All of 2008 showed how truly great he is, as Brian Sears jumped in the bike permanently.
“He’s got a great mouth, a great gait, and great desire to win,” Sears says. “He’s got all the assets of a champion. It’s an honour to drive a horse like that. It definitely instills you with a great deal of confidence.”
Mister Big won 11 of 14 starts including a nine race win-streak of the $600,000 Haughton final and $50,000 elimination, $332,000 US Pacing Championship, $702,000 Canadian Pacing Derby, $532,150 Breeders Crown, $56,650 Winbak pace at Delaware, $157,000 Allerage stake, and the $317,000 Bob Quillen Memorial final and $30,000 elimination. This gave him $1,570,067 for the season and $3,353,780 in lifetime earnings at the end of his five-year-old campaign and made Muscara realize the unthinkable was within in his grasps and Gallo Blue Chip’s $4,293,108 career earnings record was breakable.
“To race him this year that was a big priority,” Muscara says. “That record was in sight if he put together a season like he did the past year-and-a-half.”
In the barn, Morgan can’t find much to complain about when dealing with Mister Big but there is one thing to remember.
“He’s a stud and he knows it,” Morgan says. “He’ll definitely try to nip or bite at you but in a playful way.”
But overall, Mister Big knows what he’s doing.
“He’s the kind of horse that takes care of himself. He likes to lay down, and when he isn’t, he’s got his head out looking at everything.”
Conformation wise, Morgan describes him as thick, muscular, and wide but not overly tall.
“He looks like a body builder, really no flaws in his conformation at all.”
“As far as him as a horse, he’s just a trainer’s dream and a pleasure. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
His daily routine see him turned out every day, jogged, and sometimes swam – but seldom sees a fast mile in between starts.
“Those races that he’s got to prep for, it takes a lot of work all spring. He doesn’t need much work in between.”
His health has also held up well to date for Morgan and Muscara. The only times he’s shown sickness were in the 2008 American National final where he finished 8^th with his white blood count out of whack, and when he was 6^th in 1:47.3 to Won The West this year in the Breeders Crown.
So far this year, he has $638,497 made as of press time and has five starts left on his dance card if everything goes to plan – the Winbak on Jug day, the Allerage, the American National at Balmoral, and the elim and final of the Quillen Memorial – with the potential of breaking the record if he can put together wins in 2-3 of them.
Regardless of the outcome, Mister Big is slated to stand stud at Tara Hills in Port Perry, Ont., in 2010 – with shuttle duty to either Australia of New Zealand.
“He’s done enough and I think it’s time for him to take a little rest and have some fun,” Muscara says.
And would it be safe to assume Mister Big is the best horse Muscara has ever had?
“He may be the best horse anybody has ever had,” says Muscara.