by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Leave it to a horse named Word Power to inspire a play on words.

The 3-year-old colt pacer has gone quickly from a dark horse to a winning horse this season.

Yes, yes, feel free to groan, but it’s true.

Word Power entered the season a virtual unknown after going unraced last year. But he enters Saturday’s $500,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs having won three of his first four races.

His only loss was still an impressive effort. He finished third in his Hempt elimination last weekend, beaten only by a half-length after starting from post seven and racing outside pacesetting Johny Rock for much of the mile, including a :25.4 third quarter.

“I was very happy with him,” trainer Larry Remmen said. “(Driver Corey Callahan) said he’d like to have the third quarter back, he just sat there. And if he drove a little straighter through the stretch — Corey had to check him a couple times — it might have been different, but we’re still very happy.”

Lisa photo

Word Power will start from post two in Saturday’s Hempt final.

Word Power sat out last year due to health issues that no one quite figured out. He qualified twice for then-trainer John McDermott, winning his second prep in 1:56.2 at the Meadowlands on July 5, but began to get colicky.

“They had to open him up,” Remmen said. “They thought his intestines might have been twisted. But when they opened him, nothing was twisted or cut. They just sewed him back up and put everything back in place and gave him the rest of the year off.

“He was in some stress. If nobody had seen him I don’t know what might have happened. We’ll never know. But he’s OK now.”

This year he won a qualifier at Harrah’s Philadelphia in 1:54 for trainer Casie Coleman. Two days later he was purchased by Bradley Grant and moved to Remmen’s stable.

Word Power won his first three starts; a conditioned race and two rounds of the Summer Survivor Series at the Meadowlands for his new connections.

“I’m very happy with him,” Remmen said. “We were hoping he could reach the top level. I’m not saying he has, but at least he hasn’t embarrassed himself. We’re very happy for sure.

“When you buy a horse you wonder if he’s in the B group or A group. Maybe he hasn’t quite reached the A group yet. But it looks like he can go with the A group anyway. We may have to re-evaluate after a couple starts with 3-year-olds, but right now he looks pretty good.”

Despite his inactivity last year, Word Power did not show much sign of rust when the season began.

“He’s one of those horses that’s a natural right from the start,” the trainer said. “He’s not a very big horse but he has a big gait. Every driver that’s driven him says he’s a very kind horse to drive, very easy to drive.

“He’s also very nice in the stable. He’s just a nice animal.”

Remmen said Word Power is staked “but not staked heavy this year. We’ll kind of see where that goes depending on this weekend.

“He won’t be a toss out when people are looking at him, that’s for sure.”

Word Power drew post two for the Hempt final, while favorite Captaintreacherous drew the unfavorable No. 9. What that means remains to be seen. Captaintreacherous, the defending Pacer of the Year, is the 5-2 favorite on the morning line. Word Power is 4-1.

“You always want an inside post, but no matter what post you have you have to have the racing go your way,” Remmen said. “You never know what happens when the gate swings, how you’ll leave.

“Captaintreacherous ain’t going to the back. It could be a big first quarter for everyone or they could see how things develop. I think it could be a real fast race Saturday night.”

And if Word Power is the fastest of them all, he will continue to go from the dark into the light.

Following is the field for the Hempt:

Hempt Memorial, race 10, approximate post time 9:12 p.m.: 1. Martini Hanover, Jim Morrill, Jr., Chris Ryder; 2. Word Power, Corey Callahan, Larry Remmen; 3. Evenin Of Pleasure, Jody Jamieson, Tony O’Sullivan; 4. Rockin Amadeus, Ron Pierce, Jimmy Takter; 5. Emeritus Maximus, Doug McNair, Tony Alagna; 6. Johny Rock, Andy Miller, John Butenschoen; 7. Vegas Vacation, Brian Sears, Casie Coleman; 8. Sunfire Blue Chip, Yannick Gingras, Takter; 9. Captaintreacherous, Tim Tetrick, Alagna.