by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — The plan was to provide her with some down time prior to preparing for her second year of racing, but Unbeamlieveable decided she wanted to buck the system.

“I just started jogging her again today (Nov. 19),” said the filly’s conditioner, Jason Shaw. “She was tearing the barn down. I would turn her out and within five minutes she was right back at the gate wanting to come in. She was not having anything to do with some time off.”

A daughter of Moon Beam and the Life Sign mare DVC Iblievenangles, Unbeamlieveable may not have competed on the most elite levels of the sport, but the 2-year-old pacing filly demonstrated just how much she relishes her work. While competing on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit, she amassed just under $40,000 and compiled a record of 15-13-2-0. Owned by Mason Shaw, Unbeamlieveable was steered in all of her trips to the post by Chris Shaw and her extremely successful season was a bit of a shock to her connections.

Seth Dowling photo

Unbeamlieveable won 13 times this year, which was the most victories in North America by a freshman pacing filly.

“I really did not think she would have the year she did,” Jason said. “She comes from a good family, but for her to keep winning the way she did was something I did not expect. She really loves to race and enjoys her work.”

The Shaws, who concentrate primarily on fair racing, purchased Unbeamlieveable for $2,500 at the 2014 SUNY Morrisville Sale. She was bred by Delaware Valley University, is the 11th foal from her dam and is a half-sister to P H Jackpot (Million Dollar Cam) p,1:49.4f ($752,813). Only two of the filly’s siblings have not raced and every one in the family that has competed has visited the winner’s circle at least twice.

The Shaws decided to add Unbeamlieveable to their roster after receiving some advice from someone familiar with her genetic composition.

“My brother is friends with Tim Offutt,” Chris said. “He (Offutt) brought it to his attention this filly was for sale and she probably had some ability. He told Jason about her family, as he owned her brother, and that she probably would not go for that much. He couldn’t buy her himself, but he thought we should, so Jason went ahead and brought her home.

“You can do anything you want with her, really, when she is on the track,” he continued. “She can leave, come from behind and do anything you ask her to. In the barn though she has her own attitude. She lets you know who is the boss, but when she’s racing she is all business.”

Despite compiling a stellar record, Jason was a bit disappointed when Unbeamlieveable did not triumph in the $25,000 Pennsylvania Fair final for her age, gait and gender on Oct. 10 at The Meadows. In what was her last start of the season, the filly came up a neck short of her 14th win of the season when she lost to Worthy Jackie.

“It really was a letdown for me,” Jason said. “I completely thought she would win that race and while she was pacing through the stretch, I felt she would get there. She had such a great season and I just expected for her to finish it by winning the final.”

Her driver claims there is a perfectly valid reason the filly did not hit the wire first in that contest.

“I don’t think she liked the track,” Chris said. “She still raced very well, but that was not her best performance. I could tell right away she was not happy with the footing. She still tried her best though, but her stride was not as smooth as usual and was kind of choppy. Sometimes the Meadows has a funny track and that was the situation that night. That’s racing though, so there are occasions where you just have to overcome things like that.”

Unbeamlieveable’s schedule for 2016 will mirror her 2015 campaign and Jason expects for her to demonstrate the same form she did this year.

“We usually concentrate on fair racing,” Jason said. “We do have some horses we race pari-mutuelly, but we turn them out over the summer, then bring them back in the winter to race at places like the Meadows. We have about 15 horses we take to the fairs during the warmer months and honestly, that’s really all we can handle with just ourselves doing the work.

“With this filly, I might race her over the winter because she is so sharp and really did not want a break. We’ll see how everything goes, but I expect to put her in all the same spots she raced in this year. We just hope she picks up exactly where she left off and there is no reason to think she won’t.”