by Dean A. Hoffman

Joe Frasure loves Jereme’s Jet. He’s spent much of the last two racing seasons on the road with the young pacer. And that’s why he was mighty proud when he stood at Maywood Park on Friday night (Nov. 17) and watched the colt win the $250,000 Windy City Pace.

Frasure, 44, is an assistant trainer for Tom Harmer, who was in Rome, Italy at the time of the race.

Tim Jones photo

Jereme’s Jet (3), the Dan Patch Award winner of 2005, wrapped up 2006 with a slate of 6-1-1 in 14 starts and $302,820 on his card. No decision has been reached about racing him as a 4-year-old.

“I had Tom on the phone describing the race to him,” says Frasure. “It was the middle of the night in Rome, but Tom wanted me to tell him how the races went.”

Driver Dave Magee shot Jereme’s Jet out of the gate like a rocket in the Windy City, reaching the first eighth mile, according to Frasure, in 13.2 seconds. When he described that Jereme’s Jet had cleared to the lead, Harmer asked over the phone, “It’s over, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s over,” said Frasure.

He had so much confidence in his beloved Jereme’s Jet that he felt the last 7/8-mile was merely perfunctory. Jereme’s Jet won by a neck in 1:52.2 over My Boy David.

“Dave really only had to use him twice in the mile,” said Frasure. “That was at the start and then down through the stretch. He was backing into the field the rest of the time. ”

So ends the season of Jereme’s Jet, the Dan Patch Award winner of 2005. He wraps up 2006 with a slate of 6-1-1 in 14 starts and $302,820 on his card. No decision has been reached about racing Jereme’s Jet as a 4-year-old.

The son of Western Hanover came into the season touted as the favorite for the major sophomore pacing classics, but disaster struck in some of his early starts.

“We didn’t know what the problem was because he wasn’t sore or lame,” explains Frasure. “But he was stopping badly at the end of his miles. He was just walking in the final eighth-mile.”

Dr. Patricia Hogan diagnosed a breathing condition similar to asthma in humans and Jereme’s Jet responded to treatment immediately. He won his American-National elim in 1:49.4 and then paced to 1:48.1 winning miles over the mile tracks at Springfield and Du Quoin.

Jereme’s Jet came into the Little Brown Jug in peak fitness and Frasure, a native of Ohio, was hoping for a trip to the winner’s circle despite the colt’s challenging berth in post seven in his first heat elimination.

In the Jug elimination, driver Tony Morgan left with Jereme’s Jet in a vain attempt to wrest the lead away from Armbro Deuce, but Frasure was heartsick.

“I just walked away from the track after the first eighth of the Jug,” he says. “I could see what was happening. I just went back and picked up the jog cart. I knew he wasn’t going to win.”

Jereme’s Jet got parked through a first quarter in 25.2 and predictably got tired after the grueling overland trip. He was beaten 33 lengths.

“Lots of people criticized Tony Morgan for that drive, but Tony’s won more than 10,000 races, so he knows what he’s doing,” says Frasure. “Tony took a shot at the lead and it didn’t work out that day.”

Amazingly, Frasure says that Jereme’s Jet bounced back from the brutal trip.

“Two days later you’d never know he raced,” he says. “He was out playing and lunging around. The more he plays, the better he is.”

Jereme’s Jet proved that by winning his next start in 1:51.4 at Maywood for Magee, who has won five of his six starts behind the colt.

Paul MacDonell was in the bike in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine where Jereme’s Jet was tenth and last at the half-mile marker in 57.1 and simply couldn’t gain enough ground in the final half in 55 seconds. He finished seventh.

Joe Frasure knows that Jereme’s Jet disappointed some people by not repeating his championship season, but the colt has never disappointed Frasure, and he’s happy that his season ended with the prestigious Windy City Pace victory.