by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — It’s a tall order to measure up to Commander Crowe, Bee A Magician, Sebastian K and Archangel, but Obrigado’s connections think their horse is up to the challenge. In fact, they were absolutely thrilled to receive the final invitation to the $250,000 International Trot Preview at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday (Oct. 25) and feel this could very well be the perfect opportunity for their horse to shine.

The gelding will leave from post position four in the ninth race with Jason Bartlett in the bike. He is 8-1 on the morning line.

“He has been so much better than we expected,” said Paul Kelley, the gelding’s conditioner and co-owner. “Even though I knew all the connections and was very comfortable buying the horse, nobody expected him to accomplish as much as he has in his 4-year-old year and being from Maine.”

Bred by Mike Andrew, who is deeply committed to the sport in his home state, Obrigado captured 21 straight races before being purchased by Kelley, Linwood Higgins, Bill Weaver and Stable 45 at last year’s Harrisburg Mixed Sale.

Jelena Gerga photo

Obrigado (No. 7) rallied from seventh place at the top of the stretch to win the Yonkers Open in 1:55 on Oct. 17.

The son of Boy Band and the Malabar Man mare Malimony was a Maine champion in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns. He was 10-8-0-1 as a 2-year-old and a perfect 13 for 13 at age three. Before coming to Kelley’s barn he collected just under $170,000 in purse money and had a lifetime mark of 2:00.4h. While under Kelley’s watchful eye, the gelding has earned $153,742, compiled a record of 20-9-7-1 and lowered his speed standard to 1:52.3f, which is a track record at Tioga Downs.

“I was kind of hoping off his last two starts at Yonkers he might get the opportunity,” Kelley said in regards to Obrigado’s selection. “When he wasn’t picked in the regional eight I was a little disappointed but I understood where Yonkers was coming from. When it came out Market Share was going to Dayton we were definitely hoping we would receive an invitation, but I never spoke with anyone about it.”

Kelley was not sure what kind of performances Obrigado was capable of, but was hoping the horse would be similar to Up Tempo (Boy Band 1:55f, $317,191), another Mike Andrew-bred trotter that moved to his stable as a 4-year-old.

“The plan right from the get go was to start him at Saratoga and see how well he would do,” Kelley said. “The 4-year-old season is such a transition year for horses, especially in his situation as he had only raced in Maine.

“We started off with small goals and he was pretty dominant at Saratoga for a few starts. That’s when he started getting assigned the seven and eight holes every week, so it was time to move on and try something different. That’s when we went to Tioga and he had a win as well as a second place finish there. That was the point when we knew we had a nice horse developing and when it was time to go to Yonkers to see how he would match up with the Open trotters. He’s done very well as he has won three out of six and finished second once.

“In the race at Yonkers (a sixth place finish on August 22) where he was up against Bee A Magician and Arch Madness, along with the normal group of top Open trotters, he was in a tough spot with the eight hole and it was the first time Brent (Holland) ever sat behind him. It was just one of those nights were the race just didn’t shake out right for him.”

After he competes on Saturday night, Obrigado could very well be put away for 2014 and prepared for his 2015 campaign.

“He has had the whole barn pumped up all year,” Kelley said. “Especially from July on. We are really looking forward to this race because it gives us an opportunity to further assess where he fits in the big scheme of things for next year. This could be his last start because our plan was to give him 21 or 22 starts then get him ready again.

“If he does well in this race, our ownership group will sit down and figure out how to stake him for next year. He has been an absolutely perfect horse for us and we couldn’t be happier with what he has accomplished.”