Another $100,000 season for Mississippi Storm?

Mississippi Storm (Cantab Hall-Mississippi Beauty) can join a select group of harness racing trotters this year by doing what has become a habit for him – earn money.

Over the past 50 years, fewer than a dozen trotters have won at least $100,000 in a season seven times in their careers. Mississippi Storm, a 9-year-old gelding who makes his 2024 debut Saturday (March 16) at The Meadowlands, enters this year with six.

According to the U.S. Trotting Association’s Pedigrees and Research Department, Melady’s Monet leads the list of trotters with six-figure seasons, having accomplished the feat nine times. Arch Madness, Goodtimes, Grain Of Truth, and JL Cruze follow with eight apiece. Six horses are tied with seven: Abbey Road C, Cash Me Out, Charmed Life, Glorys Comet, I Know My Chip, and JM Vangogh.

Trained by Tom Fanning and owned by Joe Smith, who bought the trotter following his 2-year-old season, Mississippi Storm has won 41 of 149 careers races and earned $922,348. He has earned a paycheck in 126 of his starts (nearly 85 percent) and hit the board a total of 96 times.

“He’s just a good horse, that’s all you can say,” Fanning said. “He’s not a great horse, but he’s a good one. I don’t know any races stand out, but he’s gone a lot of good ones, mostly in overnights or the opens. His whole career has been quite an accomplishment, I feel.”

Mississippi Storm won four of eight races as a 2-year-old for trainer Julie Miller and owner Andy Miller Stable Inc. before being purchased by Smith in December 2017. At age 3, he was a winner on the Grand Circuit, capturing a division of the Simpson Stakes, and finished third in the Matron and Zweig Memorial Consolation.

Since then, much of Mississippi Storm’s success has come in top-level trots, particularly at MGM Yonkers Raceway. He has hit the board 48 times at that half-mile oval, with 19 wins.

“You can race him any way you want, he’s good on a half, and he doesn’t usually make a break; that adds up to making money,” Fanning said. “He’s not as good on the front end now as he used to be. He doesn’t seem to like that. Now if you come a short first-over, or he sits the pocket, he seems to be better than on the front.

“He used to be a very good front-end horse, but they get older and change. I can’t blame him for that. You just kind of let them do their thing.”

Fanning and Smith are no strangers to dependable trotters. They campaigned Sumatra, who also put together six years with more than $100,000 in purses on his way to $940,062 in career earnings, and Fashion Creditor, who had five six-figure seasons and banked $857,111.

“Joe never pushes them,” Fanning said. “When they need to rest, they get a rest. When they’re good, he goes race them. He’s a good owner.”

Mississippi Storm will begin his season Saturday at The Meadowlands, where he competes in a $23,000 condition trot and is 6-1 on the morning line with Jordan Stratton in the sulky. He heads to the race off two qualifiers, the most recent a second-place finish in 1:55.3 with a :27.2 last quarter over a “good” track at the Big M on March 9.

“He qualified good,” Fanning said. “He should race pretty well.

“Every year I wonder how he’s going to come back, but he comes back good. This year, too. Now we just have to race him.”

Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. (EDT) at The Meadowlands. For free TrackMaster programs for the Big M, click here.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA