by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association

Columbus, OH — Prevailing in a wild finish in the recent $130,000 Four Leaf Clover Series Final put Mystical Marker Farms and John Carver’s Lisagain in the spotlight — and as a bonus earned the 4-year-old son of Dragon Again honors as Horse of the Month for March, as selected by the U.S. Trotting Association.

Lisa photo

Lisagain (#4) was a narrow winner in the $130,000 Four Leaf Clover Final.

The budding star has a lot to live up to — he’s a half-brother to the 2006 Older Pacing Horse of the Year, Lis Mara — but the Four Leaf Clover Final showed he may be up to that task.

Five horses finished within one length of victory in the 1:50.3 Four Leaf Clover Final, in which Lisagain finished a nose in front of the others with Hall of Fame driver John Campbell urging him home. Earlier in the series, Lisagain had finished second, by only a neck, in the opening leg, and then posted a 4-1/4 length victory in the second and final preliminary. Both races were also in March.

Lisagain was a $260,000 auction purchase as a yearling. “He was a big beautiful colt,” Miller said about Lisagain, talking recently to the USTA’s Ken Weingartner. “He just wasn’t able to handle it as a young horse. It’s kind of like the other brother, Lis Mara. He had some trouble as a young horse and came along pretty good as he got older.

“(Lisagain’s) maturity held him up. It’s a matter of time. We changed his routine a little bit, but the main thing was time. At high speed he had a little trouble getting it all together. But that’s the way it goes; you’ve got to just wait on them until they’re ready. Patience pays off.”

It seems Lisagain has begun to live up to the promise. To boot, like his half-brother did in July 2006 and again in May 2007, Lisagain has won Horse of the Month honors.

Perhaps it’s déjà’ vu all over again, as someone once said.