Timing is everything for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. as he gets Pet Rock ready for his 4-year-old campaign.
Pet Rock makes his seasonal debut in Saturday’s second round of the TVG Free For All Championship Series for older pacers at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Pet Rock starts from post No. 2 in the field of 12, with driver Simon Allard at the lines for Morgan.
“He couldn’t be doing better, physically or mentally,” Morgan said. “He’s made the transition from (age) 3 to 4 very good; a lot of horses struggle with that transition. I didn’t want to start him too early because it’s a long year. With all the horses coming back this year, it’s going to make for a long and vigorously demanding year.
“Once we saw the stakes schedule, we thought waiting a little was the right thing to do. You want your horse to peak at the right time, when the most money is on the line. They’ve only got so many starts at 1:48 or 1:47 in them. Hopefully we’ll be around at the end.”
