by James Platz

In 2009 and 2010, Peter Wrenn and his wife, Melanie, took the Indiana racing program by storm with trotting filly Msnaughtybynature. Purchased two starts into her freshman campaign, she would dominate her division over the next two seasons, winning 22 of 26 starts and accumulating $642,000. Today, the Wrenns have another trotting filly in Ponda Jewel whose early season exploits are reminiscent of the former champion and stable headliner.

“She would win her sires stakes about as easy as that, you know,” said Peter, recalling the former champion and comparing with his up-and-coming trotter. “And it’s changed a little bit now, as far as speed, that’s for sure.”

During her two seasons on the track, Msnaughtybynature was never asked to go any faster than 1:56. Ponda Jewel, by contrast, has already dipped below that standard, circling the Harrah’s Hoosier Park oval in 1:54.4 in late March. But what has captured the imagination is not only the time on the tote board, but the distance between Ponda Jewel and her competition at the wire. In a trio of starts this year, the filly has sparkled for her connections, claiming victory by margins of 7½ lengths, 10¾ lengths, and 8¾ lengths.

“A lot of them are like her, they’re late horses,” Peter said of his filly, a one-time starter in 2024 that fits the early closer criteria. “She hasn’t met the competition that will be more prepared in another couple months, I know that.”

That competition is the crop of last season’s top freshman Indiana Sires Stakes fillies that will begin to show up in qualifiers soon in anticipation of the opening leg next month. Peter wants to see how his charge compares with the group, and her trio of efforts in the Mya Tri series has left him optimistic.

“I really like this filly,” he said. “Her starts here really showed me a lot of stuff I like. And, you know, I know with being that confident, sometimes it comes with a little disappointment. We’ll see. I mean, it’s hard to take talent away, and she’s got smarts and talent, so those are two things you like.”

Ponda Jewel is the first foal from Muscle Hill mare Aperfectcrystal. Stakes placed in PASS and Kentucky Commonwealth action at 2 and 3, the mare is a half-sister to Haughton Memorial winner Aperfectyankee. Bred and consigned by Pond-A-Acres, the Swan For All lass brought $130,000 at the 2023 Hoosier Classic sale, purchased by Peter for owners David McDuffee and L&L DeVisser LLC.

Peter brought the filly along last season and made it to the races, but immaturity issues led to an abbreviated campaign. In her lone attempt behind the starter’s gate last September, Ponda Jewel made a break early and was relegated to racing well back of the field.

“She just had a lot of immaturity issues,” Peter said. “And luckily, I thought she was a gifted filly. She showed me pieces, and there were days when she wasn’t so gifted. We gave her a little time in the summer, then I brought her back in the fall, and I tinkered with her in the fall, and I qualified her. I kind of liked her, knowing that there were some things that needed to be taken care of as far as maturity.”

In March, Peter said that Ponda Jewel began to put it all together, and today, despite only four starts, the green filly looks much different than the trotter that made her debut seven months ago.

“That’s when she really, really made the trot, right around the first of March,” he said. “It finally clicked for her and I, and we all got together. And, you know, she’s just a beautiful filly. I love her. She’s fun to sit behind. She’s one of the nicest green trotters.”

After qualifying in 1:58.2 at Sunshine Meadows in mid-March, Ponda Jewel made her sophomore debut on March 29 in the opening round of the Mya Tri series, named after another dominant Indiana-sired trotting filly. Starting from post 7, Peter sent her to the lead and the pair never relinquished, winning handily in 1:54.4. In the second $10,000 leg, she followed the same template, this time from post 2. Receiving every call as the heavy favorite, the trotter once again stepped away from the field, this time by double-digit lengths. In the $20,000 series final, held April 17, Peter employed different tactics with Ponda Jewel, sitting early before brushing to the top after the half and sprinting to the wire uncontested in 1:55.2.

“She’s just so fun to drive,” the veteran driver said. “The other night she was two fingers. When I moved her, she was all business. In fact, in that last turn, she was cruising around. I was like, ‘Whoa, where are you going?’ That’s just a fun ride. Real fun ride.”

Ponda Jewel is eligible to the Msnaughtybynature, a series named in honor of the former champion, but Peter says he will skip it, focusing more on the upcoming sires stakes campaign and the bigger picture.

“I just feel like it’s a long season, and a big future ahead of her,” he said. “If she is that good, then it’s an easy decision to make. Naturally, I’m excited about her. I run a big barn with a lot of good help, so we do need good horses. We need headliners, and hopefully she can take us that way, and maybe we can have a headliner. I know in April we had a headliner, but we’ll see what happens in October.”