Filly by Kiwi dominating Ohio fair circuit

There is a Bit Of A Legend N two-year-old filly dominating the Ohio Fair harness racing circuit that is looking like a bit of a bargain.

A Bit Crazy, out of the Dragon Again mare Crazy Again, brought only $5,500 at the Buckeye Yearling sale for by Ohio residents Rod Allums Jr., who is 35 and girlfriend Jayme Weller, 38, and partner Stepen Reis. She has already earned almost four times her purchase price while going undefeated in eight fair races, her only loss coming in a Buckeye Stallion Stake at Northfield Park in her second start.

Allums Jr. noted that his filly had an excuse for that one blemish on her record. “She had broken equipment there,” he explained. “She wasn’t in the best spot in that race anyway. After that start, we decided to stick to the fairs, just because of the points.” Allums Jr. added that he wanted to make sure that A Bit Crazy would accumulate enough points to make the lucrative $50,000 Fair Championship that will be contested at Northfield Park on October 14th.

A Bit Crazy’s third start came at the Tiffin Fair track and there were no issues on that day, equipment related or otherwise. After taking over the lead passing the half, A Bit Crazy dominated her rivals, winning by 2 3/4 lengths in a phenomenal time of 1:57.4. What made it so impressive? “She broke the track record by 3 1/5 seconds that day,” Allums Jr. beamed.

The swift rookie pacer would go on to reel off six more wins in a row from July 30th to this past Saturday (September 2nd). All her wins have come with Allums Jr. at the controls and A Bit Crazy has never had to sweat out a photo. Her smallest win margin has been one length. The run of driving wins has been some added satisfaction for Allums Jr. who has been an infrequent driver in recent years but boasts a respectable 9-4-8 record from 49 2023 starts. “I don’t drive much anymore,” Allums Jr. said, but he has been perfect with A Bit Crazy, going eight for eight.

Her owner/driver said he thinks A Bit Crazy has a great shot to win the Fair Championship. “I’m fairly confident with her,” he remarked. “She’s got a ton of speed, but she can race any style I need to race her. She can go to the lead, come from off the pace or float out and find a spot. She’s very versatile. A pure racehorse.”

Does being so dominant in the fairs put a target on your back? Allums Jr. said he thinks so and as such, he drives accordingly to give his filly the best chance. “I’ve been kind of floating her out of there and just kind of playing it by ear to see what happens early because at a lot of these fairs they are kind of gunning for her now,” Allums Jr. noted. “I don’t want to get her caught in a jackpot, so I kind of just try to be smart how I drive her, get into a spot early, and then come when I gotta come.”

Liking what they have seen so far from A Bit Crazy, Allums Jr. and Weller dipped back into her gene pool for a second yearling purchase. “We just bought another Bit Of A Legend N yearling last Thursday at the Blooded Horse Sale for $13,000, a colt named Legendary Photo,” Allums Jr. said. “The Bit Of A Legends don’t have a lot of size to them, but they have a lot of speed, just like him.”

Allums Jr. noted that A Bit Crazy was beating their two-year-old colt training down all spring. Weller, who was the one training the filly while Allums Jr. trained the colt, confirmed with a laugh, “I was beating Rod all spring.” Weller said the filly does not live up to her name. “She’s not a real lovey horse, but she is not mean by any means possible. She’s always been self-sufficient.”

It’s clear the ones that should worry the most about getting beat by A Bit Crazy now are her rivals.

by Garnet Barnsdale, for Harnesslink