Hardy pacing stallion heads to Indiana

After five seasons of pacing his way over North American harness racing ovals and earning more than a million dollars, Workin Ona Mystery (Captaintreacherous) will now call Indiana home. More specifically, he’ll begin 2024 at Alvin Schwartz’s Boarding Farm, standing his first season at stud there, for a fee of $4,000.

Now 7, Workin Ona Mystery was purchased by Carmel, Maine-based owner William Hartt on Nov. 10, 2023, from the Harrisburg Sale, as a racehorse prospect for $195,000.

“I bought the horse to race initially,” Hartt acknowledged. “And even though he’ll be standing stud, I’ll likely race him late summer and fall with the hopes of getting 15 to 16 starts in him.”

Workin Ona Mystery has earned $1,206,322 lifetime, and this past season won seven of 19 starts under trainer Ron Burke’s watchful eye, garnering wins at a variety of tracks, and scoring a trio of victories prior to Hartt purchasing him. He began the year with a 1:50.4 score at The Meadowlands on April 29, and followed that up with a 1:49.4 score at Harrah’s Philadelphia on June 25, and a 1:51.2 victory on Aug. 26 at The Poconos.

On Sept. 23 he graced that same winner’s circle again, this time after pacing in 1:52.3, before winning a $17,500 Open at Lexington on Oct. 7 in 1:50.3 with David Miller at the lines. He won his next two starts after that, a $19,200 Meadows Open in 1:50.4 on Oct. 20 for Dave Palone, and a $25,000 Open in 1:49.3 on Oct. 26 for Chris Page at Dayton Raceway.

WORKIN ONA MYSTERY $100,000 #SENDITIN INVITATIONAL WIN REPLAY

“I love back class and he’s got talent and is well-bred, and I think he’s a class act,” Hartt admitted. “In today’s world, you can get out of an expensive horse fairly quickly, and that’s why I bought him.”

However, a subpar effort in his first start for his new owner got Hartt thinking outside his usual comfort zone.

“I started thinking about him from a breeding aspect,” Hartt said. “I never really had done that before, but from a stallion standpoint, there’s an opportunity with him and when I got a call from the Schwartz farm, everything just fell into place.”

Hartt is no stranger to the industry, having been involved for four decades, beginning his involvement when he was just a teenager in the Pine Tree State.

“I bought my first horse when I was 18 years old and trained it myself,” Hartt offered. “We used to go to Lewiston Raceway, Bangor, and Scarborough, and the fairs. I loved watching the horses and that’s how I got involved. When I started moving up in the family transportation business, I was working too much and had to hire people to take care of my horses.”

Now retired, Hartt recently purchased a horse farm in South Vienna, Ohio that he’s christened Harttland Equine.

“We have a 22-stall barn, a half mile track, a cold-water treadmill, and salt pool—all the resources have been put into place to be successful, and we have about 35 to 40 horses there,” Hartt confirmed. “We chose to set up shop in Ohio because racing is strong there and year ‘round, and Maine just doesn’t have those opportunities. I have 135 acres where I live, and I don’t race here as there’s no money to be made.

“If you’re taking care of them yourself and enjoy that and have the time as a hobby, that’s great, but you can’t make a profit here. Michael Hitchcock raced horses for me in Maine initially and he moved to Ohio six years ago and made the move just to take care of my horses, so he lives on the farm there and manages it and trains my horses.”

Workin Ona Mystery had a contentious career. Bred by White Birch Farm of Allentown, NJ, he was foaled on May 7, 2016, and was purchased for $30,000 at the 2017 Harrisburg Yearling Sale by trainer Brian Brown for owners Diamond Creek Racing, Stambaugh Leeman Stable, Alan Keith, and Wingfield Brothers LLC.

He started out as one of the top 2-year-olds of 2018, winning his first five starts for Brown, including the $40,148 Standardbred at Delaware on Sept. 20, 2018, in 1:50.3, the $72,800 Bluegrass at Lexington in 1:50.3 on Sept. 29, 2019, the $62,000 Indiana Stallion Stakes at Lexington in 1:49.3 on Oct. 6, his seasonal best. He finished sixth in his Breeders Crown elimination at Pocono Downs on Oct 19 of that year and retired for the season after earning $100,400 for his connections.

Workin Ona Mystery’s sophomore season would see him earn $329,941 from four wins in 11 starts, despite being plagued with breathing issues, according to his trainer.

WORKIN ONA MYSTERY $100,000 COMMODORE BARRY WIN REPLAY

“He had some trouble with bleeding over Lasix,” Brown said at the time. “He was really good his first two starts and then we went to Canada. There, you can only use five CCs which is all he was on down here at the time, and he was good. But as soon as he went to Canada he bled more. We blamed it on allergies causing problems, we tried to do all kinds of things for him, sent him to the oxygen chamber a couple of times — he was actually there several times throughout the year. After the North America Cup, he would come up with a temperature and his white count would go high and we’d wind up missing a race here or there.

“At the end, he went to Hoosier, raced great that day even though he was fourth, and then he went to Lexington and was real good. And then about three days later, he came up with a temperature again. We quit with him, sent him to Hagyard Equine in Lexington, and actually found that he had e. coli in his lungs. We think that came from the time he bled so bad up in Canada.”

Workin Ona Mystery won multiple Pennsylvania Sires Stakes, a $37,500 division of the North America Cup in 1:49 on June 8, 2019, and was third in the $750,000 final to Captain Crunch, and second in the $50,000 elim and third in the $682,650 Big M Pace, clocked in 1:48.3 and 1:48. He then won the $88,800 Bluegrass at Lex in 1:48.1 on Sept. 29, 2019, a seasonal triumph.

Despite the pesky lung annoyances, Workin Ona Mystery kept returning and prevailing. At 4, he won a $50,000 Graduate leg at Tioga in 1:50 on June 21, 2020, and a $17,900 Open at The Meadows on Aug 29 in 1:48.3, before scoring in the $100,000 Senditin Invitational at Scioto on Sept 6 in 1:48.3 by five lengths in a wire to wire, stunning performance. He added another $187,015 to his coffers from three wins, three seconds, and a third in 10 starts that year.

In 2021, at age 5, Workin Ona Mystery got a late start, getting his first win on Aug. 28, when he won the $100,000 Senditin again at Scioto, this time in 1:49. He then transferred to the Burke barn in late September, and finally hit his groove again in a 38,000 Big M Open on Nov. 27, winning in 1:48.4, a seasonal mark. At the end of the year, the sturdy pacer plunked another $186,933 into his bank account.

Last year, as a 6-year-old Workin Ona Mystery had one of his best seasons, earning $323,1832 from four wins, two seconds, and five thirds in 21 starts. He started off his winning ways by taking a $32,500 Open Preferred Handicap at Dover in 1:50.3 on March 31, 2022, and a $31,500 Open at The Meadowlands in 1:50.2 on April 16. On May 7, he roared to a career tying mark of 1:48.1 at The Meadowlands, in a $31,500 Open, and later that month won a $100,000 Invitational at Harrah’s Philadelphia in 1:49.1. He was second on July 23 in the $250,000 J Gerrity at Saratoga in 1:50.2 and 4^th in the $278,000 McKee Memorial on Aug. 6, in 1:47.1. before finishing third in the $315,000 Dan Patch at Hoosier on Aug. 12, in 1:49, and second in the $100,000 Senditin at Scioto on Aug. 19, in 1:49.1.

The 2023 season saw him add another $78,851 to his bankroll and took a 7-year-old mark of 1:49.3 at Dayton Raceway on Oct. 26. His lifetime total purse earnings are $1,206,322 from 82 lifetime starts, with 25 wins, nine seconds, and nine thirds.

“He’ll head over to Indiana in few weeks,” Hartt offered. “He should be well-received there, as he’s one of his sire’s top performers.”

Hartt is correct, as his robust stallion is the sixth money-earning son of Captaintreacherous, and one of his top 20 sub-1:48.2 performers.

 Workin ona Mystery is the first foal out of the Dragon Again mare Dragon’s Tale p, 3, 1:52.2f ($63,739), and is a full brother to Captain’s Reign p, 3, 1:51.4f ($146,515) and to Knights Tale p, 3, 1:51.2f ($68,972).

Dragon’s Tale is out of the Badlands Hanover p, 2, 1:50z ($754,772) mare Born Storyteller p, 6, 1:52.1 ($478,393), a prolific broodmare in her own right, who has also produced Gambler’s Tale (Cam’s Card Shark) p, 8, 1:51 ($295,164); Beach Story (Somebeachsomewhere) p, 4, 1:50.2 ($283,709); Born Of Fire (Dragon Again) p, 7, 1:51.1s ($211,553); Hypnotic Tale (Hypnotic Blue Chip) p, 4, 1:52.4f ($200,796); and Dark Rhapsody (Somebeachsomewhere) p, 3, 1:54.4f ($44,751), among others.

For information on Workin Ona Mystery, contact Schwartz Boarding Farm, LLC, at 260-525-29979.

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink