by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Bill Augustine is the proud owner — and you can underline the word proud — of a horse that is good for both of his businesses.

In his harness racing world, Augustine’s Frost Damage Blues is going off at 12-1 at Saturday’s Breeders Crown championships at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. In her first year of racing, the 3-year-old filly has earned $51,750 by winning her first seven starts in overnight competition at Saratoga, Yonkers and Pocono.

Making her stakes debut in her Breeders Crown elimination, the daughter of 2000 Open Pace champion Western Ideal was driven to a second place finish by Brian Sears, finishing one length behind Solar Sister.

When he’s not focusing on horses, Augustine is a blueberry farmer and owns a 150-acre farm in South Jersey and a 1,200-acre farm in North Carolina. Between them both, Augustine Farms Inc. is the largest single owned and operated blueberry production and packing enterprise on the East Coast.

And his business gets a boost from his filly.

“She loves blueberries,” Augustine said. “She tears my hand off eating them. After each race I bring a little pack and feed her.”

The horse’s name is a reference to farmers battling frost damage to their crop.

Breeders Crown photo

Frost Damage Blues has earned $51,750 by winning her first seven starts in overnight competition at Saratoga, Yonkers and Pocono.

“I name them all after blueberries,” Augustine said. “The next one is going to be called Hail Damage. I was real excited to come up with (Frost Damage Blues). All my buddies in the blueberry business kind of laughed when I called her that, but now she’s a superstar.”

She didn’t start out that way. Augustine bought her on opening night at the 2013 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for a modest $6,000 under the name Media Matters. She is a full sister to stakes-winner Ideal Matters. Augustine attributed her final price to an ankle that had blown up at the auction.

“Her ankle wasn’t broke, she was just skinned up,” he said. “On opening night, they’re all bluebloods; everyone is looking for the cream of the crop. I checked her out, there were no broken bones. Horses get skinned up all the time. She was a nice little gamble.”

Frost Damage Blues had some health issues and didn’t race as a 2-year-old. She was turned out for three months and brought back slowly under trainer Tom Fanning.

“Tom does an outstanding job,” Augustine said. “I told him don’t rush her, that her biggest races are at the end of the year. And here we are, at the end of the year.”

There is a forecast for rain in Toronto on Saturday, which would please Augustine since Frost Damage Blues is a medium-sized horse going against some bigger fillies.

“The rain usually bothers bigger horses,” he said. “Other than that, she’s always been on the front or near the front. I’m hoping Brian goes out with her. He’ll do a great job. Brian’s the best in the world and he’s a good friend of mine.”

One thing is certain, Frost Damage Blues won’t be stressing before the race.

“This horse is so perfect,” Augustine said. “She goes to sleep before the race. She’s very easy to manage. She jogs around the track real nice and easy, but when she gets behind the (starting) car, she turns into a rocket.”

Augustine has been around successful horses before as he shared ownership of 2012 Hambletonian winner Market Share, who finished third in the 2012 Breeders Crown and was the Open Trot winner in 2013. The farmer paid the horse back by putting his picture on more than six million of his Winners Circle blueberry cups around the world.

“This one means a little more to me because I’m her only owner,” Augustine said of Frost Damage Blues. “She’s a Cinderella story, a very classy horse. I bought her with the hopes of being in the Breeders Crown.”

And if she wins on Saturday?

“Oh,” Augustine said, “she’ll definitely be on a blueberry cup.”

* * * * *

Divine Caroline, who won her Breeders Crown elimination by 2-3/4 lengths over Bedroomconfessions in 1:51.3 is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the 3-year-old filly pace final. She has won three starts in a row and hit the board in a total of 17 of 19 races this year.

“I’m pleased with her,” trainer Joe Holloway said. “She’s blossomed over the last month and gotten real good. She’s always been there, she just wasn’t firing. Now she’s putting it all together. Sometimes it takes some longer than others, but she’s always had speed. Hopefully she stays good.”

Holloway also sends out Bettor Be Steppin, who is 9-2 on the morning line. Bettor Be Steppin is seeking her first win since capturing the Valley Forge Stakes on Aug. 22, a span of four starts. She finished fifth in her Crown elimination, beaten 2-1/2 lengths by Solar Sister.

“I said (in the days prior to the elimination) we’ve been on the front, we’re going to race from behind,” Holloway said. “She had to come from a ways back, she paced her last quarter in :27, and fortunately she got in there. But I thought she needed it. It’s tough whenever you tell a driver one way to drive a horse. I told Corey (Callahan) no more, but I just thought she needed that. Fortunately it worked out enough where she got in.”

* * * * *

Solar Sister, who won her elimination by one length over Frost Damage Blues in 1:52.1, is 7-2 on the morning line. Solar Sister won the Ontario Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old filly pacers on Oct. 10 at Woodbine after finishing off the board in her two previous starts. She has won eight of 15 races this year.

“I raced her in the Simcoe (on Sept. 5) and she came first up through a pretty good half,” trainer Gregg McNair said. “We were a little bit disappointed because she faded badly, which was the first time she did that. The next start at Flamboro, she made the front easy and then came to a stop.

“The next morning she was hobbling around her stall and you could tell there was (an abscess) in her foot. We worked on it and the Tuesday before the Super Final it broke out and she won, and she was good again (in her Crown elim). I think that was maybe bothering her for the Simcoe too. It was her right front foot. That can bother them for a long time and sometimes you never know what’s wrong with them until it blows out.”

Solar Sister was guaranteed a starting spot in posts 1-5 because of her elim win. She drew post three.

“I’m really happy (she drew post three) because that makes a big difference with her,” McNair said. “If you draw outside you’ve got to use her. Not that she can’t leave, but that usually shows up at the end of the mile if you use her hard leaving.”

* * * * *

Overheard: “I told Brian (Sears) after the race, there goes the winning streak,” trainer Tom Fanning said, laughing, after Frost Damage Blues lost for the first time in eight career races. “But she was great and I couldn’t have been happier. We’ll see what happens in the final. I think she’ll fit in pretty good. The biggest question was the class jump. She tries hard and it’s hard to find fillies like that. And she has some speed as well. That’s a good combination. The big track helps her. The bigger the track, the better she is.”

“John (Campbell) was happy with her,” trainer Chris Ryder said about The Show Returns’ fourth-place finish in the elimination won by Solar Sister. “She had pace. She didn’t really get out. I was happy, especially after her last two races at Lexington. She was in the wrong spot both weeks. The second week she was on the front in :54 (seconds) flat and she can’t handle that. She packed it in. It was tough to come here off those two races. We almost didn’t come. But we came because any time she gets a trip, she’s got pace.”

“She was super; she’s just not a sprinter,” trainer Tony Alagna said after Bedroomconfessions’ second-place finish to Divine Caroline. “It takes a little while for her to get rolling, but she was doing her best pacing at the wire. That’s all we can ask for. She’s had a really good year as far as being steady. I think she got a little flat on us, but the Jugette (in September) really woke her up. Two heats really worked into what she needed. I thought she was as good as she has been tonight. I’m really happy.”

“The front end is not her trip,” Ron Burke assistant trainer Shannon Murphy said after Southwind Roulette finished third in her elimination, which was won by Solar Sister. “She’s better off the pace, but she raced good. We were happy with her. She’ll be off a helmet next week for sure.”

“She had a tough go of it,” Murphy said about Sassa Hanover’s third-place elim finish behind Divine Caroline and Bedroomconfessions. “She was parked out a long way and that didn’t help her chances any, especially the way the track was going tonight. She drew the 10 hole for the final, so she’ll have to go forward again. We’ll see what happens.”

$500,000 Breeders Crown 3-year-old filly pace
Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Line
1-Divine Caroline-David Miller-Joe Holloway-2-1
2-Bettor Be Steppin-Corey Callahan-Joe Holloway-9-2
3-Solar Sister-Doug McNair-Gregg McNair-7-2
4-Bedroomconfessions-Tim Tetrick-Tony Alagna-4-1
5-Mosquito Blue Chip-Andy Miller-Paul Jessop-15-1
6-Southwind Roulette-Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke-10-1
7-Frost Damage Blues-Brian Sears-Tom Fanning-12-1
8-The Show Returns-John Campbell-Chris Ryder-20-1
9-Stacia Hanover-Scott Zeron-Steve Elliott-20-1
10-Sassa Hanover-Matt Kakaley-Ron Burke-15-1