When it rains, it pours. For trainer John McDermott, "Hurrikane" season has left his stable on the shelf predominantly, as a string of sickness and other ailments kept his racing stock from actually seeing the racetrack. With McDermott himself nursing two shoulder surgeries, 2021 has not gone on as planned. The calendar is in its final month of the year, and it now appears things are looking brighter, as a pair of high-caliber pacers from the McDermott barn hit the Meadowlands this Saturday night, looking to close the year out in style and pave the way for hopefully a more prosperous New Year. "I have great owners," said McDermott, referring to how he's managed to navigate the season despite an epic amount of adversity. On the positive side, this Saturday he'll send out Hurrikane Emperor - a soon-to-be 6-year-old with immense talent - in the fourth race and the freshman Hurrikane Jonnyboy in the second race. Hurrikane Emperor is a son of McDermott's fastest pacer Hurrikane Kingcole, and is the owner of a 1:47 mark taken last year, but has made just two starts in 2021 heading into Saturday's contest. "He hurt an ankle while turned out in the field, and that took some time to get over," said McDermott, explaining why Hurrikane Emperor has been sidelined. "Then we were getting him qualified with an eye on entering the Breeders Crown and he got sick on us. This has been the worst year as far as sickness in a long time." So, Hurrikane Emperor, a sub-1:50 winner in Kentucky as a 2-year-old, will be looking for his first win of the year two weeks removed from a 1:50 qualifier taken at the Meadowlands. "We train him more like a Thoroughbred," said McDermott. "He gained a lot of weight while out, and the only way we could get some of that weight off was a fast qualifier." Hurrikane Emperor's idleness could make him a risky proposition in the "winners of 5 races but not more than 7" class he'll face on Saturday in the fourth race, but there's an element of extreme high class to the horse that figures to give him a distinct advantage. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter As a juvenile in 2018, Hurrikane Emperor captured the Kentucky Sires Stakes final at The Red Mile in a 1:49 3/5 clocking and defeated some pretty talented horses in the field, among them the future 3-year-old champion Bettor's Wish. Last year, as a 4-year-old, he captured the Graduate Series final but would make less than a handful of starts after that race. "If they are not 100 percent we don't race them," said McDermott of his philosophy. "My partners are great about it and they understand." McDermott believes Hurrikane Emperor is now on the right track and if so, he expects to race him through the winter and hopefully get a chance to go up against the top Open performers in 2022. According to McDermott, Hurrikane Emperor is nothing like his daddy Hurrikane Kingcole. "Kingcole was a horse with extreme speed that once you started him up you couldn't stop him. Emperor, you can do whatever you want with him and he'll relax," said McDermott, who is currently training a yearling filly by Sweet Lou out of a full sister to Hurrikane Emperor. "That filly is acting a lot like Kingcole." The sickness bug bit Hurrikane Jonnyboy enough to thwart McDermott's plans for the Huntsville-sired gelding. "We were getting him ready for a few starts in the Kindergarten," said McDermott. "When he got sick it was too late for that series, so we decided to start him a few times." Hurrikane Jonnyboy has, in fact, started twice for McDermott at the Meadowlands this fall and both were authoritative victories, giving strong indication the gelding has a bright future. "You know Bob Heyden once asked me, 'how do you know when you have an exceptional horse?'" said McDermott. "This was before Kingcole came along, but after that I realized you know it when a horse does something that others have never done before. When it comes to Hurrikane Jonnyboy, he paced a quarter for me in 28 at Goshen and it was effortless." Hurrikane Jonnyboy drew post five in Saturday's second race. "It will be his last start and we'll get him ready for next year," said McDermott, who expects to stake the horse heavily as a 3-year-old. McDermott has a third horse on Saturday with Hurrikanekingjames looking for his first win of the year in his ninth start. "What happened to that horse is that I bought 95 percent of him," said McDermott, half-joking about the poor luck. "He should be able to beat that field." Hurrikanekingjames drew post three in the 13th race, a $20,000 leg of the Bring on 2022 Series.