Buck I St
Pat going to Delaware
by Tom White
Hopefully On The Mend
Buck I St Pat Headed To Miss Versatility Final At Delaware, OH;
Mare Hitched To Goat Cart At Two Days Of Age
Standardbred breeder and owner, Dr. Ron Fuller of Newark, OH, may have
started a new trend in training young horses. The Ohio veterinarian
began hitching his future trotting star Buck I St Pat to a goat cart at
the age of two days! Now, four years later, the $1,001,027 winner is
the early favorite for the $116,000 Miss Versatility Trot on September
18 at the Delaware, OH County Fair.
Buck I St Pat is the season’s fastest aged trotting mare on both a mile
and five-eighths mile tracks. Her time of 1:52.2 at Chester, PA is a
world record for aged trotting mares On a five-eighths mile track. Even
though Buck I St Pat hasn’t raced on a half-mile track this season, Dr.
Fuller says that his mare can “really trot around turns. “ Dr. Fuller
also knows that Mystical Sunshine trotted the Delaware half-mile track
in a world record 1:53.2 in winning the 2007 Miss Versatility Trot.
But, first, Buck I St Pat must recover from an inflammation of the
tendon sheath which has kept her sidelined for about a month. Dr.
Fuller is optimistic his mare will be able to race in about six weeks at
Delaware, OH.
“We started her back swimming two weeks ago, and she looks like she’s on
the mend,” said Dr. Fuller. “But, we are not going to rush her.
Hopefully, we will be able to qualify her in a few weeks. Being from
Ohio, racing at Delaware means a lot.”
Dr. Fuller decided after 50 years of breeding and racing Standardbreds
to try a new approach in working with foals.
“About 10 years ago I learned of a new way to work with young foals.
Dr. Robert Miller, a veterinarian from Thousand Oaks, CA, developed a
new system called foal imprinting. I read his book and then attended
one of his lectures.”
Two days after Buck I St Pat was born, with the assistance of his two
daughters, Dr. Fuller hitched the filly to a goat cart. “We walked
behind her and held the lines and she followed her dam everywhere. We
usually worked with her about five minutes. At first, we did this every
three days, then once a week, and then every month. She was no longer
scared, and she always tried to please,” said Dr. Fuller.
Buck I St Pat”s first serious training sessions came as a yearling in
October. “She took right to the training and after awhile it became a
game, “ said Dr, Fuller. “We raced her from behind throughout her
two-year-old season and she liked passing other horses.”
Halfway through her two-year-old season, Dr. Fuller added three partners
and a new trainer, Mickey Burke. The other owners are Howard Taylor
(PA), Ed Gold (NY) and Abe Vasent (NV).
Buck I St Pat has 31 career victories and was voted Ohio’s
Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of 2006 and Ohio’s top aged trotting mare
in 2007 by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association. Buck I St Pat’s
sire is Jailhouse Jesse and her dam Name It Something.
Buck I St Pat leads the Versatility Series in points earned followed by
Godiva Hall, who has winnings this season of $191,796.