by M. Kelly Young, executive assistant, Harness Horse Breeders of New York State

Saratoga Springs, NY — Whelan Mike will attempt to extend his winning streak to five when the three-year-old pacing colt starts at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway on Saturday, July 16. He will compete in one of four divisions of the $141,600 New York Sires Stakes featured on the 13 race card.

Three of the colt’s four victories this year have come at Saratoga, the adopted home track of trainer Howard Okusko, Sr. due to the closure of Vernon Downs so far this season. Whelan Mike already has one leg of the Sires Stakes at Buffalo Raceway to his credit this year and in his last outing he bested the Open-2 class at Saratoga.

“He’s improved a lot, but so have all the others,” said owner Gunther Unflat of Hawley, Pennsylvania. As a two-year-old, his homebred won two New York Sires Stakes but then got sick midway through the season.

“This year when we brought him back to Howard (trainer Okusko Sr.) after being with me all winter, he just wasn’t right when we were training him down,” related Unflat. “When the three-year-old filly was beating him on the track, Howard said, ‘We need to look into this.’ He didn’t really show any signs of sickness, but they took a culture and that’s how we found out he actually had two different viruses. We treated one and got that cleared up and then had to treat the other.”

Now with a 1:55.4 career mark set June 11 at Saratoga and a record of four wins and a second in five starts, “Mike” seems to be fully recovered.

Unflat, who bred and raced the colt’s dam, Manhattan Girl, also campaigned another of her sons, Whelan Willie, who earned nearly $350,000 in purses. Unflat now stands Whelan Willie at stud at Rodney Farms in Western New York.

“Whelan Mike reminds me a lot of Whelan Willie, but he’s bigger in size than Willie and hasn’t shown yet that he has that speed,” explained Unflat. “But he really hasn’t had a chance to do that — he was sick last year and he’s raced mostly on half-mile tracks so he hasn’t been able to show us all that he’s got.”

Perhaps Whelan Mike will have that opportunity on Saturday when he leaves from post four in the ninth race with driver Howard Okusko, Jr. But Eyes On Kassa, who has won his last two races, would like to stop his rival’s streak when he starts from the rail with Stephane Bouchard.

Two local horses are also featured in this field: Yankee Mike will attempt his second seasonal victory from post seven for trainer Perry Simser and Diamond Session from the extreme outside post eight will be starting for trainer Dave Spagnola and Loudonville’s Michael Polansky.

Another horse to watch will be Magical Murphy, who will be directed by Jeff Gregory in the tenth race. This Joe Holloway trainee has flashed extreme speed — he sports a 1:52.3 qualifying mark — but breaks stride frequently to take himself out of contention. He will start from post five.

New York Sires Stakes are slated as races three, seven, nine and ten on the program. Post time is 7:10 p.m.