Harness: 'Help' has arrived for Indiana and beyond

The breeding business has plenty of twists and turns. Navigating correctly can make a huge difference provided the bloodlines remain strong.

For owner John Wiesman, a chance encounter along the road pointed him in a different direction and ultimately led to the breakout trotting stallion of 2022 by the name of Helpisontheway.

"I was at the January mixed sale looking to buy his mother," said Wiesman about the Plesac-sired mare Porque. "Michelle Crawford outbid me." Crawford would secure the mare at the 2017 sale, but Wiesman's search for the pedigree continued.

Helpisontheway, a Chapter Seven-sired colt, was a 2-year-old for trainer Linda Toscano in 2017 and would go on to be a top New York Sire Stakes performer a year later. Once his racing career had ended, Wiesman saw potential for the $610K winner who raced against Six Pack in the New York program.

"I really loved the pedigree," said Wiesman. Specifically going fully against the grain, Wiesman saw potential with the names Plesac, Armbro Charger and A Go Go Lauxmont on the dam's side.

"I loved Plesac as a racehorse. He didn't have that many crops so it's hard to say what kind of sire he could have been," Wiesman said, recalling the top invitational trotter from the early 2000's that earned $2.5 million during his racing career.

Wiesman worked for Lauxmont Farm, one of many stops on his bloodstock career. "A Go Go Lauxmont was a top horse, but they sent him to New Jersey and he never got any quality mares," said Wiesman.

A Go Go Lauxmont is the second dam sire of Porque and hails from the Balanced Image line. Dream Of Glory is also prominent on the dam's side giving Helpisontheway a decided Canadian bloodline.

What Wiesman was looking for in a pedigree is contrary to many in the business as he was seeking to capitalize on select names that do well at auction but not necessarily advance the breadth in pedigrees.

"There's just way too much inbreeding," Wiesman said of his overall concern. "We had that way back in the 70's when everyone was breeding Meadow Skipper to Bret Hanover and Bret Hanover back to Meadow Skipper."

For Wiesman, who had the benefit of working for Carter Duer and called him his "mentor," the reality of seeing what a contraction in the gene pool led to on the ground was reason enough to try to change the current course.

"Helpisontheway's pedigree opens him up to so many types of mares," said Wiesman, who proudly reels off the numbers that have hit the track this year. "From the ones that made it this year there's 34 different dam sires." That's an incredible number and not only is it a great sign for the budding star stallion but it represents much of the hard work Wiesman has had to put in for the last three years just to see the fruits of his labor realized with the first crop racing with high impact this year in Indiana.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

"It wasn't easy," Wiesman said about the first year getting mares bred to Helpisontheway despite a reasonable stud fee. "Let's just say there was a lot of free semen for the first three years."

The work done over the first three years may not have netted the owner much income, but he was able to convince many owners of trotting mares to try out a son of Chapter Seven that may not have had national recognition but possessed the male line that has been extremely popular with the likes of Walner proving out last year.

"He bred 117 mares the first year and 124 the second year," said Wiesman, who credited the fine work done by Jonas Graber and his staff at Maple Lane Farms in Indiana. "He bred just 92 in year three but was back up to 118 this year."

Just a few months into the first year on the racetrack, the showing by Helpisontheway in Indiana has been incredible. Considering the quality of mares bred and the year-over-year dominance of Swan For All, just having horses show up at the racetrack would have been a big victory in and of itself. What has happened is rather astonishing and one need only look to some of the results this past Tuesday (September 13) to realize how Helpisontheway is in the process of transforming the breed in the Hoosier state and perhaps beyond as the quality of mares bred is sure to only get better. On Tuesday Helpisontheway-sired fillies finished first, second and third in a division of the Indiana Sire Stakes for juvenile fillies with Yo Beth D, already a 1:54 3/5 winner this year, winning for the fifth time in seven starts and just a nose ahead of Helpoftheseason, herself a 1:55 1/5 winner this year. Third across the wire in the Hoosier Park contest was Naturdays, a previous six-time winner over Indiana Fair tracks that fell just a length short in her first challenge at this level.

With just 74 registered foals from his first crop Helpisontheway has a stunning 18 with records of 2:00 or better than three in 1:55.

Prior to any of the first crop hitting the racetrack Wiesman did ponder trying to sell some shares in the horse. "It's funny how things work out," Wiesman said. "I had a horseman call me the other day and he wanted to know whether shares were still available for $20,000. I told him that ship has sailed."

Wiesman was hoping that he would get the opportunity to race for big money this year with a son of Helpisontheway he co-owns named Here Is Help. "We were looking to get him ready to race in the Mohawk Million," Wiesman said of the colt in training for Tony Alagna. "He got a little sick on us so we're going to point him to some of the later Indiana races."

Here Is Help, who is undefeated in three starts this year with a 1:54 2/5 record, is the first foal from the Trixton-sired mare Rocher Kemp. On the dams side you need to go back nearly 40 years to find serious pedigree in the form of the champion filly Davidia Hanover.

For Wiesman the success of Helpisontheway's first crop brings him back to Jailhouse Jesse. "I managed Jailhouse Jesse and there wasn't much interest in him early either until a horse by the name of Buck I St Pat came along," Wiesman said of the $2.3 million winner that paved the way in Ohio for her sire once she arrived at the track in 2005.

"Bob Marks has done an outstanding job getting the word out on this horse," Wiesman said of longtime friend and bloodline expert.

It may have taken more than three years to get to this point, but Wiesman's perseverance has paid off and helped the Chapter Seven stallion tree grow an unexpected branch. Indiana horsemen should be grateful, and it may not be long before those in North America and beyond get on the bandwagon.

Actually, not long at all. "He was bred to 40 mares in Europe this year," said Wiesman, "and 40-45 mares in Australia."