Serey Makes Plans for Ponzi Scheme

Ponzi Scheme, claimed for $20,000 out of a turf race here last August, is on a roll right now, and his last outing was probably the best of his life as the 4-year-old rolled to a front-running victory in last Monday’s Skip Away Stakes.

The horse is doing so well that owner John Koenig and trainer Juan Serey are daring to dream big for the rest of this season.

“We want to stretch him out,” Koenig said, “and maybe get to the Breeders’ Cup Marathon.”

One of the stops along the way to Churchill Downs in November is the $250,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes (G3) at nine furlongs on Saturday, Aug. 20.

“That will be the target for the summer at Monmouth,” Serey said.

Ponzi Scheme, by Sunday Break, has won six races in his 23-race career, and the last two have been his most impressive. In his start before the mile and a sixteenth Skip Away, Ponzi Scheme ran away with an allowance race at Tampa Bay.

“He’s very good now,” Serey said. “We gelded him, and that made a difference. But really you have to be very lucky to claim a horse like him.”