by Paul Ramlow, USTA Internet News Manager

Lexington, KY — The freshman pacing males took to the clay oval on Saturday (Oct. 23) at The Red Mile in a pair of divisions in the $291,000 International Stallion Stake.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Big Bad John was a 1:50.4 winner over Lookinforadventure.

In the opener, for a purse of $145,000, Big Bad John won a hotly contested stretch duel with Lookinforadventure to score in a lifetime best of 1:50.4. Dave Palone was in the bike for trainer Ron Potter as the Western Hanover-Trulyawork Of Art colt won for the seventh time in nine lifetime starts. Big Bad John has now earned $222,750 for owner Winchester Baye Acres Inc.

Lizard King and David Miller left from post six to grab the rail on top but yielded to Big Bad John just before the opening quarter in :28.2. Lookinforadventure and Daniel Dube came charging down the backstretch and they were the new leaders before the :55.3 half-mile marker with Big Bad John back in the pocket.

The leaders remained the same at the 1:23.3 three-quarter pole, but Palone had Big Bad John out and moving when the field straightened for home. From there it was a two-horse battle with Big Bad John just holding off Lookinforadventure at the wire by a half-length. Lizard King was third.

“He was much better today than last week,” said Palone. “I thought Danny’s horse was the one to follow. I had him a little too docile last week and I wanted to make sure he was sprinting today. He got the job done in (1):50.4. That’s a pretty good horse.”

“We started him out slow down in Florida,” said owner Ed Telle. “He had an infected foot. He missed two months training. He didn’t start until January. We brought him along slow and you can see the results now.

“I loved Jimmy Dean and he died and I said I was going to name a horse after him. I loved the song and the name became available Jan. 1 of this year and so I named him Big Bad John. It’s really caught on, especially in Delaware (Ohio). Everybody knows Big Bad John up in Delaware.

“(Winning twice in Lexington) is worth about $120,000,” he said with a laugh. “It really helped the stable now. We’ll winter train in Florida and we hope he comes back as a really good 3-year-old and we’ll go from there.”

The $146,000 second division went to Feel Like A Fool and driver Brian Sears in an identical clocking of 1:50.4. The Art Major-Fool That I Am gelding is owned by Kovach Stables, George Teague, Jr. Inc. and Ted Gewertz. George Teague, Jr. is the trainer. Feel Like A Fool was a winner for the fifth time in nine trips behind the gate, with earnings of $453,149.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Feel Like A Fool won the second division in 1:50.4 for Brian Sears.

There was plenty of movement in this race as Four Starzzz Z was the leader at the opening quarter of :27.3, before yielding to Mystic Desire who took the field to the half in :55.1.

Feel Like A Fool got away fourth, came first over at the half, then cleared to the lead heading to the 1:22.2 three-quarter pole. Down the stretch Sears kept his mount pacing strong and Feel Like A Fool held off the fast closing Fashion Delight (David Miller) by a neck to score in 1:50.4. Sir Ziggy’s Z Tam was third for Patrick Lachance.

“This horse has a lot of talent and a good mouth,” said Sears. “He’s a very athletic colt.

“It was a big effort and he does his best work off the pace, but I knew he had enough speed to clear.”

Feel Like A Fool has gotten a reputation for being rambunctious. Whenever he wins, he has the racebike removed before entering the winner’s circle. But he may not have ever gotten that far if it wasn’t for an anatomical correction over the winter.

“The horse had a little bit of a mind of his own, so we had to geld him,” said co-owner Jerry Kovach, who bought him at the Standardbred Horse Sale for $30,000. “George made a huge improvement in him and he’s done real well.”