Harness: Rookie Downbytheseaside trotter a three-time winner in 2022

From just two crops, Downbytheseaside has established himself not just as the top pacing sire in Ohio, but as a top stallion in the sport. And now he is establishing himself as a trotting sire, albeit from the proverbial "limited opportunity".

Limited is the operative word as the sample size is one mare, Dw's Jasmine. The result has been a 2-year-old filly trotter who has already banked over $20,000 and posted a lifetime mark of 2:00 at Scioto Downs. That filly's name is Doc's Boo Boo.

"We intended to breed to Deep Chip. I don't know if the wrong mare was presented or the semen got mixed up, but I was pretty surprised when the USTA called and said the DNA matched Downbytheseaside and not Deep Chip," explained Kathy Ratcliff, who bred the filly with partner Jerry Zossel under their JR Stable moniker. "The mare has a 3-year-old by Deep Chip with a mark of 1:59 3/5 and a yearling filly by Sebastian K. They said there is no way Deep Chip was the sire."

Once the ID was confirmed, there was nothing to do but wait. Trainer Mark Winters said there was never any question that Doc's Boo Boo would be a trotter. "She was all trot in the field -- never took one step on the pace at any time, she has always been all trot," said Winters. "She has been a dream to work with . . . frankly I'm glad because not all of the Deep Chips are. I am fortunate I've got her. She has a great gait and a great attitude. She wears a head pole and a couple boots, but not much."

Doc's Boo Boo started her career with a show finish at the Circleville Fair after making a break at the start. She then qualified at Scioto Downs in 2:02 1/.5, but it was her final 28 3/5 closing panel that opened some eyes. Doc's Boo Boo made her pari-mutuel debut on July 8, finishing third in line to Brett Miller and trotting her mile in 1:59 with a grinding first-over effort that got her within a head of the lead at the top of the stretch. She came back the next week to post her first win going gate-to-wire in 2:00 1/5 for Jeff Nisonger. The next week she posted her lifetime mark in a $17,500 Buckeye Stallion Series leg and that prompted Winters to try her in the Ohio Sires Stakes.

"I dropped her in for Thursday, figured we would give them a try," said Winters. Sent off at odds of 9-2, Nisonger put Doc's Boo Boo on the engine and she raced gamely despite taking pressure early and often. Ultimately she finished fourth, beaten by just less than three lengths and race-timed in 1:58 1/5.

Doc's Boo Boo was right back at it Wednesday, August 3, facing a group of county fair performers at Xenia for a purse of $10,600. Saddled with a second-tier start, she found no trouble, following cover and powering away to an eight-length win in 2:06.

For Ratcliff it's been a bit surreal since getting that phone call from the USTA. "It's kind of a shock. How could this have possibly happened?" Ratcliff asked. "We are glad she's doing well."

Winston Churchill once wrote, "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The American philosopher George Santayana said something similar. Now, I don't think Churchill or Santayana bred many trotters, but here in Ohio we are seeing a classic case of history repeating itself. Doc's Boo Boo was conceived at Midland Acres, one of Ohio's premier breeding operations.

Back in the early-nineties, Nobleland Sam was the dominant pacing sire in Ohio, just as Downbytheseaside is today. While not a star on the national scene, he did sire the good stakes performer Cinder Lane Sam among others. When Leonard Buckner sent his mare Miss Perception to Midland, he certainly did not expect her to be bred to Nobleland Sam, but somehow she was. Buckner, with a sense of humor and poking fun at John "Doc" Mossbarger, who ran Midland, named the resulting foal Doc Mistake.

Doc Mistake was unimpressive at 2, but at 3 he won the Ohio Sires Stakes Championship. Trained by Jeff Fout and driven by Ohio Hall of Famer Tom Brinkerhoff, who passed away in late July, Doc Mistake continued to make no mistakes. At 4 and trained by Ohio Hall of Famer Brinkerhoff, the trotter won the Ohio Breeders Championship and finished second in the Scarlet and Gray and the Ohio Sires Stakes. He came back at 5 to win another Ohio Sires Stakes title. He won at least one race every year through his 10-year-old season and found the winners circle in 37 of 171 lifetime starts, banking nearly $350,000 in his career.

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Looking to catch lightning in a bottle, Miss Perception was intentionally bred to Nobleland Sam in 1998. That foal, No Mistake (get it?) ended up being her second best foal, but banked just $58,000 in his career. Oh, and he was a pacer.

I asked Joe McLead, the master of Sugar Valley Farm, where Downbytheseaside stands at stud, if he would be bred back to this mare or other trotting mares and he deferred to Adam Bowden of Diamond Creek Farms, who manages the stallion. I reached out to Adam but did not hear back by deadline time. If I had to guess, given his tremendous success on the Grand Circuit, with top 3-year-old Pebble Beach and others, I would say Downbytheseasdide will be servicing only pacing mares in the future.

Doc's Boo Boo, named as a tribute to Doc Mistake, still has $325,000 to go to equal the older trotter. She may be a flash in the pan or she may prove to have the talent and longevity of the older horse. It goes to show that no matter how careful breeders are, they must remember (to quote Elvis Costello) accidents will happen. The story of these two trotters with pacing fathers is interesting and it still has chapters to be written.

That's it for this month. Now cash. Hopefully on Doc's Boo Boo. See you next month.