by Tom White, publicity director, the Little Brown Jug

Delaware, OH — Hometown hero Big Bad John is coming to the 66th Little Brown Jug as one of the leading contenders.

Owned by Edward Telle of Powell and trained by Delaware native Ron Potter, Big Bad John scored a hard-earned 1:49.4 victory in Monday’s $200,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Final at Harrah’s Chester.

World Wide Racing Photos

Big Bad John was a 1:49.4 winner in the PASS final.

Big Bad John, who has been facing the sport’s top male pacers all season, avoided a breaking horse early in the race that caused him to drop five lengths behind the leaders.

“When I saw Custard The Dragon make that break I held my breath hoping Big Bad John could get clear of him,” said Potter. “David Miller did a great job of keeping him in contention.”

Big Bad John was able to close the gap behind Hugadragon and was tucked in behind at the :54.2 half before slipping out of the pocket at the 1:22.1 three-quarters. Big Bad John surged home with a final quarter of :27.2 to win over Jug eligible Hugadragon by 1-3/4 lengths.

“The Little Brown Jug will be his next start,” said Potter. “He’s back home in his stall at the Delaware Fairgrounds. I think that’s an advantage not having to ship him in. He has done pretty much everything we hoped. He’s had a great year.”