Soft Shot taking her shot in $100,000 Courageous Lady

Northfield, OH – Sometimes when purchasing racehorses, you never know what you are going to get, like finding a diamond in the rough. For the connections of Soft Shot (Heston Blue Chip), heading into Saturday’s (Aug. 10) $100,000 Courageous Lady Stakes at MGM Northfield Park, their talented harness racing filly continues to surprise them.

Soft Shot showed signs of promise early in her 2-year-old career, trained by Robert Cleary at the time, she put together some strong efforts in her first two career starts, before finally winning at Harrah’s Philadelphia late in her freshman season.

Following her 2-year-old campaign, owner Paul O’Neil pointed her out on OnGait.com to trainer Jessica Roegner and after doing some research decided to purchase the filly.

“We watched some replays and gave Paul the thumbs up that we thought she would be good, 30 minutes after we began bidding, we purchased her for $30,000,” said Roegner. That may be the best $30,000 that O’Neil has ever spent.

Since being purchased in October of her 2-year-old season, Soft Shot has gone on to make $62,585 as a sophomore and has been beating up some of the top older mares in the Midwest.

Soft Shot quickly won her way through the non-winner’s rank, with three commanding victories, from there, since she was not staked to anything, it was time to take on older mares in the upper classes at Northfield Park.

When the talented filly tried Open company for the first time, she handled the task with absolute ease, winning her first open by 4-1/4 lengths on cruise control. She came right back two weeks later and won another Open before taking a month off to prep for the $100,000 Courageous Lady.

Time off was not a problem for Soft Shot, she came back in her first start off the layoff and defeated upper class mares. She tasted defeat for the first time against Open company on July 20, having drawn the outside, she had to come from off the pace, finishing a game third.

In her most recent effort, she set some big fractions and was second beaten three-quarters of a length.

While some mares do not like to be messed with, Roegner says she is as relaxed as they come, “she is a sweetheart in the barn, you almost do not know she is there. She enjoys people, other horses and, of course, food and treats.”

Roegner says that Soft Shot is coming into Saturday’s $100,000 Courageous Lady Stakes very sharp, and her filly is very happy. The connections have been pointing to this race since they saw how nice of a filly she was and have big plans for her if things go well on Saturday night.

“With her not being staked, we planned her schedule over the last couple of months, with hopes she would be invited to the Courageous Lady. If things go well, we will consider supplementing to the Jugette,” said Roegner.

Saturday will be a big day, for not only Roegner, but for 22-year-old Justin Irvine, the son of Don Irvine Jr. as he, like Roegner, will get to compete in his first Grand Circuit event.

“I’m a little nervous; going for the money we are is a big deal,” said Irvine. “I’m only 22, so getting to drive on a bigger stage is definitely not something I thought would ever happen so soon, if ever.”

A third-generation horseman, Irvine was, as he says it, “born in a barn.” The talented Irvine has always focused on driving horses. “I never cared much about going to college, driving has always been my passion.”

Irvine, who has over 4,000 career starts, with 581 victories and over $4.3 million in career earnings, started at the bottom and has had to work his way up to where he is today.

“I have been fortunate to be able to go places like Michigan and New York (briefly) to drive and get experience. I have been extremely fortunate to meet a lot of great people from all over and learn from everyone.”

The connections of Soft Shot never questioned giving Irvine a shot on the grand stage.

“We just hope that when Justin goes big time, he remembers us,” Roegner laughed.

For Irvine, being selected to drive Soft Shot in the Courageous Lady, is an extremely exciting experience.

“It means a lot to have been picked to drive her. The connections (Roegner, O’Neil) have been good to me and given me countless opportunities,” said Irvine. “For them to put their trust in me to drive in such a big race means a lot, I would really like to do well for them.”

Roegner admits that while they have competed in Sires Stakes races before, she is a little nervous heading into Saturday. Having defeated some of the Midwest’s top-tiered talent, the entire team is confident in their filly,

“Post seven in a nine-horse field is a tough spot,” said Roegner. “You just don’t see 3-year-olds beating aged mares, especially this early in the year. It will be interesting to see how she handles a field of all 3-year-olds.”

by Michael Carter, for MGM Northfield Park