Fred Ward Jr. and his saving ‘Grace’

BANGOR, ME – Frederick H. Ward Jr’s Gowestyounggrace (Western Maverick) was the wagering favorite in the first of two $16,000-plus divisions of the Maine Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Sunday (June 30) at Bangor, but to say that this filly has a special place in his owner-trainer-breeder’s heart would be a glaring understatement.

“She was an amazing animal from the day she was born,” Ward exclaimed.  “From the first moment she hit the ground she loved to be around people.”

“Foals usually hide behind their mother for a few weeks, but not this girl, she wanted to be with people,” Ward continued, “My wife and I knew that she was different from day one.”

Earning the nickname ‘Angel’ for her pleasant demeanor and willingness to please her ‘humans’ the 3-year-old filly from the Ward’s mare Gracie Gracie has continued the legacy of her dam.

“Gracie Gracie was the only horse that I own that’s not for sale,” Ward said with a chuckle.  He and his wife Sharon bought her from Michigan for the princely sum of $1,100.  A tough mare to be around, the seller could not get her going, as something always happened when she was ready.

Enter the Ward’s who employ interval training with their charges and are stabled at the peaceful Oxford (Maine) fairgrounds.  Something must have clicked with that mare because she went on to earn $238,517 for them.

“She bought me a house and a couple of trucks,” beamed Ward when speaking about this family foundation mare.  But things weren’t always profitable.

In the race paddock the mare was so anxious to race that when she was hooked she would persistently kick the left wheel of the race bike.  Ward says he lost count of how many tires she flattened in the post parade.  This prompted horseman Heath Campbell to tell Ward, ‘You’re spending more on tires than for gas.’

Nonetheless, Gracie Gracie, an Albert Albert mare from the Keystone Arbor mare Rachel’s Minuet, was from a family of solid raceway performers.  She raced until she was 14, winning 53 of 240 starts.  Then she started her new career as a broodmare.  Her first foal was a Shady Character filly named Shades Of Gracelyn and she earned the Wards $56,935.  Her second foal is a Baron Biltmore mare named Sweet Baby G, who is still racing and has earned $113,428.

Gowestyounggrace is Gracie Gracie’s third foal and now has $76,821 in earnings, some of which was made while winning last year’s Maine Sire Stakes freshmen final at Cumberland.  Named after that famous Horace Greeley quote ’Go West, young man,’ Ward’s middle name is also Horace, so they put that all together when christening the filly.

“She didn’t really come around until later in her 2-year-old year.  It was kind of a slow beginning, but something miraculous happened when we took off her blinders,” Ward explained.   “She could see what Dave was asking of her.  Maybe she just needed that human contact.  But, after that day, she knew that she was a racehorse.”

Ward also noted that driver Dave Ingraham is an excellent ‘colt man’ so he really helped ‘Angel’ by teaching her and giving her the confidence that she needs to excel.

Ward, himself, also credits this filly as his ‘saving grace.’  While Ward has been training harness horses for the last five decades, a training accident resulted in Ward hitting the track which resulted in a subdural hematoma, or brain bleed.  This happened at the Oxford fairground during the last week in May, when some Canadian geese spooked the colt as he was jogging.

Awarded the Iron Man distinction by the Maine Breeders last season, that moniker was put to the test this past month as Ward found himself in the back of the ambulance at Cumberland, two weeks after the training accident.

Grateful, and lucky, that he was at the track and not at the farm when the symptoms manifested, Ward was rushed to Maine Medical and was in the intensive care unit just a few hours after ‘Angel’ raced and won on June 15.  Released a few days later with instructions to ‘take it easy,’ Ward starting noticing ‘little’ things and has taken a more holistic approach to life.

“I really enjoy every day now.  I almost didn’t make it,” Ward noted.

He is also looking forward to racing the 2-year-old full-brother to Gowestyounggrace, named as Gracies Tough Guy, or around the barn known as ‘Satan.’

“I would never have pulled through this without all of the help and support of the local horse people,” Ward noted.

Also, a clam digger by trade, folks don’t come much tougher than Mainers.  And, Mainers don’t come much tougher than Fred Ward Jr.

Back jogging horses and improving greatly, the win with Gowestyounggrace in Sunday’s first division was a graceful reminder of the delicacy of life and importance of good health.

Gowestyounggrace won the first $16,421 Maine Sire Stakes division for 3-year-old pacing fillies in 1:57.3 on Sunday (June 30), which was a new lifetime mark.  It was also two weeks removed from the day he landed in the hospital.  “She really is my guardian angel,” declared Ward.

The second $16,197 division was captured by Who’s Perfect in 1:57.4, who also took a new lifetime mark for her owner breeder Lynne-Marie Plouffe and partners Dick and Patty McKeen.  She was driven by Heath Campbell for trainer Valerie Grondin.

The Maine Sire Stakes resumes on Wednesday (July 3) at Bangor with the 2-year-old filly pacers.  Two days later (Friday, July 5) the 2-year-old colt and gelding pacers take center stage at First Tracks Cumberland, immediately followed by all the 2-year-old trotters on Saturday (July 6).

For more information about the Maine Sire Stakes, follow our Facebook page @MaineBreedersAssociation, or go to their website.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Chris Tully, for the Maine Sire Stakes