Illinois standout He’zzz A Wise Sky (Kyle Wilfong) shows his winning form. (Four Footed Foto)

Illinois Champ Won’t Mind Second Job

By Mike Paradise

The 2022 ICF Champion Aged Horse Pacer He’zzz A Wise Sky saw his winter plans change but I’m sure the former two-time Illinois Horse of the Year doesn’t mind.

“I was going to race him throughout the winter,” said his trainer, John Filomeno. “However, I decided to give him a long rest instead. He really didn’t have a lengthy break last year and I thought he could use it.

“Besides, the horse will have some stud duty coming up. He’ll breed to a handful of mares. In the past he didn’t seem to have any interest in being a stud but last season there were times on the racetrack he showed that he did.

“I’ve got information about breeding to He’zzz A Wise Sky on our web-site (https://triplezzzstable.com).”

Owned and bred by Triple ZZZ Stable of Beecher, Illinois, He’zzz A Wise Sky had another terrific year racing as a five-year-old, banking $202,784, no small feat for an Illinois bred pacer these days, while lowering his lifetime mark to $1.48.3

Of his 28 starts last season, 11 came in his home state of Illinois and He’zzz A Wise Sky won 10 of them, most often handicapped with the outside post. The 2020 and 2021 Illinois Harness Horse of the Year’s lone in-state loss came in the $62,000 Robert S. Molero Memorial on Hawthorne’s Night of Champions to Fox Valley Gemini, who wore the same prestigious Illinois crown in 2018 and 2019.

“He beat us in the last stride,” said his trainer. “Fox Valley Gemini is a great Illinois bred horse and he always comes up strong in the biggest ICF stakes.”

Outside the prairie-state He’zzz A Wise Sky picked-up four more victories to go along with six second place finishes, and captured Opens in Ohio and Kentucky.

In his four seasons of racing, the Yankee Skyscraper pacer, out of the stable’s Four Star Shark’s homebred mare Gimmeazzzmooch, has raked in over a half million dollars ($522,315) for Triple ZZZ stable owners Donald, Joann, John and Charisse Filomeno, and David Miller and Toni Presto.

“I’ll probably try to qualify him in early April and like I’ve said in the past, I won’t over race him,” added Filomeno.

The horse has made 78 starts in four years of racing and has finished third or better in 66 of them, winning 36 times and usually against the upper echelon foes in the Midwest.

“I’m thinking about maybe taking him to Minnesota this summer for the Dan Patch at Running Aces. That’s a long way off, so we’ll see how he’s doing and make that decision later.”

Meanwhile, the Illinois pacing champion is enjoying some much-needed rest and getting ready for his new upcoming second job.