by Timothy M. Jones, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rochester, IL — “Surprised? Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised,” described Springfield-based and Illinois Hall of Fame trainer Dirk Simpson when he learned his 3-year-old trotter Powerful Poe was ranked among the top 25 trotters in the 2013 Hoof Beats/TrackMaster Predictive Rankings.

Simpson really had not given the mention a thought. He felt the gelded son of Powerful Emotion-Fox Valley Poetry-Meadowbranch Jerzy was indeed deserving.

Timothy M. Jones photo

Trainer Dirk Simpson is looking for a big season with Powerful Poe.

“He went some good miles there at the end of the season. He became very consistent. His (1):56(.3) mark is up there for a 2-year-old trotting colt; that’s pretty good trotting!”

The tall, lanky, athletic light brown colored horse took a little while to figure his profession out. He picked up checks in five of his first six purse starts from the middle of June through August.

A rainout of the Illinois State Fair Colt Stakes final may have been a blessing in disguise. That race was moved to Balmoral Park and raced nine days after the elimination. Powerful Poe captured that $40,000 final, and then went on a streak where he won seven of eight starts, ending the season on a five race win streak.

The victories included the Darn Safe at Du Quoin; as well as the Lincoln Land elimination and final, Hanover and Cardinal, all at Balmoral Park. His lifetime mark of 1:56.3 was set in the $119,000 Lincoln Land final.

His totals for the year were seven wins in 15 starts, along with one second and three thirds, with earnings of $155,814. Those medals were enough to earn him divisional honors as Illinois’ 2-year-old Trotting Colt of the Year.

Pressure? There’s no pressure with a target already on your back as top dog in Illinois. The Hoof Beats/TrackMaster ranking just makes the target “a little larger” said Simpson, “but, that’s a good thing.”

“I think he could have been even better,” lamented the trainer. “The two races we got beat really bad — both times his guttural pouches were full of fluid — he couldn’t get his air. It’s one of those things that can come on quickly and not catch. It happened to him in the Summer Series and American-National, both at Balmoral. Todd (Warren, his driver) gave him a good trip, but Poe had nothing finishing. The same thing happened in the American-National.”

Balmoral Park photo

Powerful Poe banked $155,814 as a freshman in 2012.

Simpson scoped Powerful Poe following both occurrences and the guttural pouches were stuffed full of fluid. The condition isn’t treatable with medications or antibiotics; the pouches are drained by tube insertion and flushing.

“The pouches are like sinuses, the way I understand it,” explained the Fairfield, Ill., native. “The vet doesn’t really relate it to anything like an allergy. It just happens. For it to happen twice is rare; we were shocked!

“Most horses will get it just once, if they get it at all. Now we scope before each and every bigger race to try and stay ahead of the problem. After we figured it out, he didn’t get beat again.”

Recalling the American-National, the Illinois Hall of Famer said, “Poe actually seemed to be peaking at that time. To throw a clunker like that was pretty disappointing. He could have earned a lot more if we had suspected any airway problem. He ate the same, acted the same, never really indicated a problem.”

Dirk Simpson has been partnered with owners Dennis and Kevin Lakomy of Mystical Marker Farms LLC, plus Jack and Peggy Hood since 1988. It was Dennis Lakomy who suggested pairing Powerful Poe with driver Todd Warren from the very beginning. He had been successful with Warren in the past, and felt that his driving style would suit Powerful Poe perfectly.

“Todd has been great with the horse and feedback,” said Simpson. “We may have as short as a five minute conversation, but if he sees something that might help the horse, we’ll try it out. Todd took great care of him last year. I can’t say enough about that.”

What about this year? With what the connections learned from a difficult, but successful freshman campaign, they have high hopes for Powerful Poe as a 3-year-old.

In preparation for the sophomore racing campaign, Simpson never really stopped Powerful Poe’s conditioning. The horse was turned out on three different occasions at Walker Standardbreds in Sherman, Ill., over the winter for freshening up. Let the horse be a horse. In between those turnouts, Powerful Poe was back in the barn on the Illinois State Fairgrounds for 10 day jogging stints over the half-mile training track.

“I guess he “officially” started staying here at the barn full-time again around the middle of January,” Simpson said. “But, really, he has not been without some jogging. It seemed as though he liked it. He appears a lot fresher and he never really lost any muscle tone.

“We qualified him April 17 at Balmoral. He won that easily. Todd and I both were very pleased with him.

“Todd started him the same as he did last year; backed him off the gate, didn’t overuse him, let him trot home. He did fine.”

The strapping and now matured gelding has a full dance card in 2013. Primarily he will race in the Prairie State with ventures to Michigan and Indiana.

“Yeah, he has a very busy season for sure,” Simpson chuckled. “May 1st is his first stake race (Iggy Magoo at Balmoral Park) leading up to the Cardinal the last week of May (also at Balmoral). He’s staked to the William Connors Memorial at Hazel Park; Summer Series, Super Night, American-National and Hanover — all at Balmoral; The Galt at Maywood Park; and the Oliver Trotting Classic in Indiana.

“Dennis Lakomy suggested the Connors in Detroit. It’s an older stake over that five-eighths-mile track. He’s always trained over a half really well. I think Poe will be fine there. We’ve been up there before with a couple horses, so we’ve kept an eye on it.

“Poe’s been a good, solid horse for us. Now that we have a better understanding of managing him, we think he’ll be even better this year.”