by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Robin Schadt would make a good baseball manager, but for the time being she’s content being a pretty astute trainer.

In a 162-game Major League season, a skipper must be patient if his team is struggling early in the season. He has to hang in there, tinker, and trust that his troops get the job done.

Which is exactly what Schadt has done with Odds On Equuleus.

And that patience has paid off, as the 3-year-old colt is in Saturday’s $635,750 Meadowlands Pace final, where he drew the No. 1 post. Odds On Equuleus is 4-1 on the morning line, the third choice behind 6-5 favorite Captaintreacherous and 3-1 Meadowlands Pace elimination winner Sunshine Beach.

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Odds On Equuleus is 4-1 on the morning line for the Meadowlands Pace.

Odds On Equuleus had off-the-board finishes in his starts in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes and North American Cup final in Canada due to sickness and a foot abscess.

He drew the 10 post in the Pace elimination and only the top seven advanced, but Odds On Equuleus was promptly driven to a second-place finish by John Campbell to easily qualify.

Score one for trust and patience.

“We’re ecstatic,” Schadt said. “I never lost faith in my guy. We had a tough time in Canada; we had a little bit of lameness with the foot, we had some sickness, and it just didn’t work for us.

“We trained him here (at the Meadowlands on June 29) and I trained him a slow mile at the farm during the week and he was great. But you still don’t want to get too high on things because the downs are tough. But he had a great week and I was looking forward to the elimination. I thought he could overcome the 10 hole, but we were just really pushing to get in the final.”

That was the downgraded hope after getting a bad draw.

“We really wanted to win, but we knew with the 10 hole that we just had to make sure we had clear sailing and made the final,” Schadt said. “It was nice to draw (post) one and know we’re going to be in the thick of things (this) week.”

Odds On Equuleus’ finish in the elimination was a welcome relief for Campbell, who was frustrated at not having the talented horse at 100 percent health earlier.

“But, this isn’t my first county fair, I’ve been through this before,” said Campbell, who has won the Meadowlands Pace a record seven times. “These horses have to be in such tip-top shape to compete at this level and if everything isn’t 100 percent you just aren’t able to be effective.

“That’s what happened up there. He just had some nagging problems that he couldn’t overcome and thankfully we had a little time between the Canadian trip and the Meadowlands Pace. Robin’s got him back and he’s going into the race as good as he possibly can.”

With the colt looking healthy and hungry, both trainer and driver have positive attitudes heading into Saturday. Schadt proclaimed “He’s back,” and Campbell added that “He’s a contender.”

“He’s really a nice horse. He’s a trooper,” Schadt said. “John said that when he was coming down the stretch he could feel his neck bow and he just wanted to go. Whatever he went through, he overcame it. John was happy, so I’m happy, and we’re really looking forward to the final.”

There is just one little snag concerning the final — Captaintreacherous will also be there. Captaintreacherous, the defending Pacer of the Year, is 5-for-5 this season with wins in the North America Cup and Hempt Memorial.

“There’s no question Captaintreacherous is going to be a huge favorite and he definitely should be,” Campbell said. “He’s the horse to beat, the one everyone’s gunning for. I think Equuleus is going to be a contender and race very well. He has a good post and I think we are going to be close there at the wire.”

“He seems invincible,” Schadt said of Captaintreacherous. “He’s really a tough horse. He looks like he’s vulnerable and going to get beat and the next thing you know he just digs in and wins. That’s what great horses are made of.

“We’re just happy to be in the big dance.”

And getting a ticket to the dance is what is known as patience being a virtue.