by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Big Jim could attract a big crowd if he wins Saturday’s million-dollar Metro Pace for 2-year-old pacers at Mohawk Racetrack. Owner Jim Carr routinely invites all children at the track into the winner’s circle when one of his horses is victorious, and the Metro is no exception.

Carr’s colt has won three consecutive starts since beginning his career with third- and second-place finishes. Big Jim won the Dream Maker Pacing Series final in a record 1:51.1 on August 2 and followed with a 1:51.1 victory in a division of the Nassagaweya Stakes on August 23. Last weekend, he won his Metro elimination race by three-quarters of a length over Line Officer in 1:50.2.

After the elim triumph, Carr reminded everyone of his winner’s circle invitation.

Owner Jim Carr (in pink shirt) celebrates in the winner’s circle after Big Jim‘s score in the Metro Pace eliminations.

“I don’t think we have enough young blood at the racetrack,” said Carr, a Hamilton, Ontario, resident who operates a company that delivers court documents. “I see the kids along the railing and I thought if the kids got their picture taken with the horse, the next time he races they’ll want to go back. I just enjoy seeing the kids get their picture taken, and how happy they are, especially with a good horse. And I want them to come back to the races and be cheering for him.

“Believe me, there are a lot of people on the bandwagon. Everyone I talk to just loves him. I don’t even know who some of the people are. I just figure it’s good for racing. It’s only a little bit, but it’s going to help. If everyone did a little bit when they had a horse, we’d get more and more people to the races. We’ve got to give back.”

Big Jim will be Carr’s first Metro Pace finalist. He is trained by James “Friday” Dean and driven by Phil Hudon.

“I blew him out a little bit (Wednesday),” Dean said. “He trained very well and I’m really happy with him. It seems like he came out of (the elim) in good shape. I wouldn’t trade my horse for any other one in the race. Hopefully, we have some racing luck and things work out.”

Big Jim, renamed from Bold Ideal Hanover because of his size and voracious appetite, finished third in his first career start, beaten by a half length after taking the lead in deep stretch. In his second appearance, in the opening leg of the Dream Maker Pacing Series, he was fifth at the halfway point — eight lengths behind the leader — before finishing second to Up The Credit in 1:51.4.

“In his second start he raced huge,” Dean said. “He paced a :53.2 back half and had to come first up. His first start he likely should have won, too, but we had a blind bridle on him and he went by the horses on top and just kind of hung there. Two (horses) came flying by him on the outside and he just couldn’t see them. We made a bridle change on him after that, and it’s worked good.”

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Big Jim was a 1:50.2 winner in his Metro Pace elimination.

Big Jim was the favorite for the first time in his career in his Metro elim. He started from the outside post, No. 7, and hustled to the lead just past the quarter-mile mark.

“He won his elimination well in hand,” said Carr, who purchased Big Jim for $35,000 — the self-imposed limit he had set for bidding — at the Standardbred Horse Sale. “They blocked it up pretty quick when they saw us coming. We had to go to the top, which was no problem, but we wanted to race him from behind as much as possible. He’s a big horse. When he gets rolling he’s not the easiest thing to back down into a hole.”

Dean, who is probably best known for his work with multiple-stakes-winner Doonbeg, was a longtime assistant to Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer Stew Firlotte. Carr and Firlotte had horses together, including stakes-winning Stonewal Almahurst in the late 1980s, before a stroke in 2003 forced Firlotte to retire and Carr left the sport. Carr decided to start buying horses again to share the experience with Firlotte.

“One of the reasons I got back into harness racing is I’ve got a place near Stew in Orlando (Florida) and I got tired of seeing him sitting in the house,” Carr said. “It was just to get him out of the house. He was a great trainer and is a great man. He was a true gentleman for the sport. We’ve been friends for years. I probably wouldn’t have (Big Jim) if it wasn’t for Stew.”

Dean, who trains in Florida during the winter, said Big Jim is the best 2-year-old he has ever had.

“You never know if he’s going to be this good, but he never made a mistake all winter,” Dean said. “He trained like an older horse, and whenever you asked him to step it up, it was never a problem. Any time you asked him to go the extra little bit, it was there. We’ll just try to keep him healthy and sound and he’ll take care of the rest, I guess.

“He’s a nice horse in the barn. He’s not climbing the walls or kicking the walls. Actually, he’s sleeping most of the time. He’s not very hard on himself.

“We kept our fingers crossed and we’re still going forward.”