Bittersweet memories

Kentuckiana Farms’ Ken Jackson is hoping for good things from his 2-year-old filly pacer My Fave Wave Friday night in the $200,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes final at The Red Mile, but he remembers back to her full brother Secret Hello who was killed in a highway accident near the Meadowlands after winning a baby race in July 2001, and what might have been.

My Fave Wave and Secret Hello are progeny of sire Jate Lobell out of the 1989 Three-Year-Old Filly Pacer of the Year Cheery Hello, who was later purchased by Kentuckiana in 2003. Jackson was partnered with a group of his friends as Nexstar Equine Partners which purchased Secret Hello as a yearling for $135,000. Jackson said they had just turned down an offer of $750,000 to sell the colt when he was killed.

“He had gone a big race at Pocono in 1:54.4 and everybody was talking about him,” remembered Jackson. “He went to the Meadowlands and won a baby race again in 1:54.4. He did it for fun and looked great. People already had been wanting to buy the horse and I had an offer of three-quarters of a million dollars.

“But because he was a son of Jate out of the right mare, we wanted to keep him thinking that if he had some success at two you could stand him at stud. We agreed to not sell him at that point.”

Things quickly changed however, as after that Meadowlands start he was on a truck leaving the Meadowlands with trainer Brett Bittle when it was involved in a traffic accident, which left the promising colt dead.

“Brett was near his training center and a guy driving a small oil truck ran a flashing stop sign,” said Jackson. “He hit him and one of the grooms was hurt pretty good. And Secret Hello got killed.”

As for Kentuckiana’s homebred My Fave Wave, she has her work cut out for her in the Sire Stakes final. Coming off a 1:54.2 win in her elimination Sept. 8, My Fave Wave drew the outside post 10 in the final and is listed at odds of 5-1 on the morning line with Marcus Johansson driving for trainer Erv Miller. The 6-5 favorite is Real Girl and driver David Miller, who captured the other elim in 1:53.4.

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