Mucho Sleazy: Serious on the track, goofy off the track

Though he may be a goof around the barn, Berry’s Creek favorite Mucho Sleazy is all business when he hits the track.

"Mucho Sleazy was very good at two," said trainer Ken Rucker. "We raced him in series early on and he carried it all the way to November. That's not easy for a 2 year old to do. He just kept getting better and better, but he was a bit of a 'hammerhead.’ He'd do goofy things away from the track, run off occasionally, but once it became time to get behind the gate, he knew what he was there for. He has a good head for racing. It's the play time when he can be a problem."

After romping in his elimination race, Mucho Sleazy was installed the 5-2 morning line favorite in the $215,000 Berry’s Creek Final on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. He will start from post two with driver Andy Miller at the lines. The elimination marked the colt’s first start on Lasix.

"He bled lightly a time or two as a 2-year-old and we didn't want to put him on Lasix then," Rucker said. "It can cause some congestion and some other problems. We nursed him along a bit, but after his first start this year, we scoped him and noticed a little droplet of blood. So we decided to put him on Lasix now and get it out of the way.

"We were tickled with his start in the elimination," Rucker continued. "He's a versatile horse but he's better chasing horses down, following. He gets a little lazy up front by himself. He's a willing follower. That is his game. He never gets tired. One week you can be parked to the lead with him, the next week you can take back and race from off the pace. It doesn't matter to him. He's not ignorant, not hotheaded at all."

Owner Marty Engel bred the 3-year-old son of Sportsmaster out of his mare Something Sleazy.

"I think this is the tenth or twelfth foal, but it was her last," Rucker said of the gelding’s dam. "She's had a few $100,000 winners, but this one is the best. Sleazebiscuit and a few others are in that family."

Mucho Sleazy has hit the board in 16 of 19 career starts. His six wins at two include the American-National at Balmoral Park. He is one of four Berry’s Creek finalists headed down the path to the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on July 19. (MeadowlandsP

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