by James Platz

Last season, trotting filly Swanya made one start at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, breaking stride during the mile and finishing eighth. Trainer Missy Essig turned the immature freshman out and pointed to 2023. Now 3, Swanya returned to action in The Mya Tri series, completing a sweep Wednesday (April 19). Another Essig charge, sophomore Helpfirstedition, captured the $18,000 final of the Cardinal Series that same night in similarly impressive fashion. The two are pointed to Indiana Sires Stakes competition in late May.

“We have more luck turning 2-year-olds out and bringing them back at 3,” Essig said. “If they’re showing that they are not ready and you’re going to do more damage than good, we would just rather turn them out and let them grow.”

With Swanya, Essig said the filly just couldn’t put it all together to race successfully as a freshman. The Swan For All lass qualified last July, winning in a time of 2:01.2. Ten days later, she would make her pari-mutuel debut, racing off the pace early before breaking. Eight days after that first start, she would run again in a qualifier.

“Swanya just couldn’t get it all together as a 2-year-old,” Essig said. “She was just mentally and physically not there. We turned her out in July. We brought her back in December when we went to Pinehurst. Obviously, she has a great family, so we just turned her out and hoped that she would come back a good 3-year-old like her big brother.”

Swanya sold for $25,000 at the 2021 Hoosier Classic Sale, purchased by Essig’s mother, Jackie Beeman. The Swan For All filly is out of the Lou’s Legacy mare Tanya’s Legacy. Her mother, Yaichbin Bluegrass, is a sister to a pair of Indiana Sires Stakes final winners, B L Sugar An Spice and Yadubist Bluegrass. Swanya is a full-sister to $500,000 winner Whata Swan, whose 1:50.3 mark is a Hoosier Park track record.

While the filly struggled last year, at Pinehurst, Essig observed a different horse training down.

“She was just a totally different horse,” Essig said. “She’s been great since we brought her back in. She trained down great and didn’t have any funky quirks. She did everything perfect all winter long, so we had high hopes for her. You never want to get your feelings crushed, but we felt very good going into the series.”

After a pair of March qualifiers, Swanya debuted as a sophomore in the $9,000 opening leg of The Mya Tri with a winning effort. Driven by John DeLong from the second tier, the trotter left the gate third, but pushed to the front through a :59.4 opening half. From there, she won comfortably in 1:58. She would back that effort up a week later, leaving from the outside to take command before stopping the clock in 1:57, winning by more than two lengths. In Wednesday’s final, DeLong secured the lead after the quarter and the pair won by five lengths with a 1:56.2 clocking.

“John said she’s still very green,” Essig said. “He thinks she’s just going to keep getting better as she catches on. She’s still really a baby racing.”

Like Swanya, Helpfirstedition entered 2023 with little experience, but lots of potential. From the first crop of Helpisontheway, the gelding romped in a qualifier last July, finishing nearly 18 lengths in front with a 2:01 performance. Owned by Ervin Wickey, John Graber, Running Wild Stables and John Schmucker, the trotter sustained an injury before making his freshman debut and was promptly turned out to heal and grow.

“He was training down really well,” Essig said. “He showed a lot of potential. He had an injury that set him back so we just quit with him and turned him out.”

She believes the extra time served Helpfirstedition well. The gelding remained in Indiana over the winter. After qualifying in March for Jesse Schmucker, the sophomore was turned over to Essig. He won his second qualifying attempt and then recovered from an early interference break in his debut to finish fourth. In the Cardinal Series, Helpfirstedition triumphed in 1:58.1 and 1:56 before handily claiming victory Wednesday by a four and one-half length margin, crossing the wire in 1:55.3.

“He really matured,” Essig said. “He’s another one that is just a really nice horse to be around. I think the time off was the best thing for him.”

The pair of trotters and Indiana Sires Stakes hopefuls join a roster that already includes champion Buzzsaw Russ and one of last season’s top freshman trotters, Texsong Soprano. Buzzsaw Russ won four of nine 2-year-old starts, capping the campaign with a 1:50.2 triumph in the $270,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final. The son of Rockin Image finished the year with $235,460 on his card for Essig’s father, Russ Beeman and his partner, Charles Weaver. Buzzsaw Russ qualified for the first time Wednesday, guided to victory by DeLong through a 1:52.2 circuit.

“He’s trained well all winter too,” Essig said. “We had him in Pinehurst. I was really kind of shocked he qualified in [1]:52, but very pleased. It wasn’t going to hurt him any, because he was ready. We’ll qualify him again on Wednesday and try to get a start in him before sires stakes. He’s not really tall, but he did grow. When I put his harness back on him, I had to let everything out two or three holes. So, he did grow over the winter. But he’s not a huge horse either.”

As of this writing, Essig has yet to lay eyes on Texsong Soprano, the Text Me sophomore that hit the board in nine of 10 last year, winning five times and banking $174,722 for the trainer. Owned by Lillian Farms and Joe D. Yoder, the trotting colt wintered in northern Indiana and was set to ship to Madison County on Saturday (April 22). She is anxious to see how the multiple Indiana Sires Stakes leg winner handled the offseason.

“I get him back tomorrow,” she said on Friday afternoon. “He’ll be back in the barn tomorrow and we’ll train him up a couple times and get him qualified. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go.”