by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — It wasn’t his conformation, attitude, athleticism or pedigree that enticed William Daugherty, Jr. to purchase Cadence Hall at the 2009 Blooded Horse Fall Sale. He had simply reached the point where there were no other options.

“I bought him because he was the last one left,” said the 63-year-old Mercer, Pa. resident with a laugh. “I went to Harrisburg to try to buy a colt, but I didn’t because they were bringing too much money. The Delaware Sale was right after that and I didn’t plan on attending, but I saw in the catalogue they had three Pennsylvania eligible horses — there was a colt and a filly by Broadway Hall and then him. I looked at him and chose him over the other two.

“I got him for $8,000 and that’s quite a bit of money for a fair horse,” Daugherty continued. “But it was late in the year and I took a chance on him because otherwise I wouldn’t have had a 2-year-old to race in the coming year.”

Ryan Zidek photo

Cadence Hall won 11 times last year as a freshman and banked $37,737.

The Pennsylvania-bred son of Chip Chip Hooray-CR Campfiregirl owns a lifetime mark of 2:00.2f and earned $37,737 from 17 starts during his freshman campaign. The gelding, who is owned by Susan Daugherty, won 11 times with one second and three thirds while competing primarily on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit. Cadence Hall led his division in points and captured both of his pari-mutuel starts, which were an $8,200 non-winners contest at The Meadows on October 6 and the $20,000 Pennsylvania Fair Final for his age, sex and gait on October 16.

“I was skeptical of him at first,” explained Daugherty, who also pilots the gelding at the fairs. “They all look like champions in the beginning, but you never know until you start training them down and he ended up racing super for me.”

Like many babies, Cadence Hall experienced some problems early on staying on the trot.

“He made a couple breaks at first and I put the hood and ears on him because he seemed to get hot,” his conditioner said. “We calmed him down with that and he did wear a mask over his bridle all summer because he had been kind of shying and looking at things a bit. After I put that on him, he just seemed to get better with every race. I wanted to take off the hood eventually, but I left him rigged that way because if something is working you don’t change it.”

Even with the breaking issues, Daugherty thought the gelding possessed ability while he was training him down.

“He seemed to be real quick and by his actions as I was jogging him on the training track I thought he would be good,” he said. “If something would scare him, he would speed up and you could notice the quickness right away, but then again I never asked him for much until we started racing. I brought him along real slow and put a good foundation in him.”

Even though he has only campaigned for one season, Cadence Hall is already quite easy to handle and doesn’t require a certain kind of trip to get his picture taken.

“You can do whatever you want with him as long as he stays flat,” Daugherty said. “The turns are a little sharp on the fair tracks and I did have to watch him on the first turn a couple times, but then I would just pull him and go on.

“You never had to push on him for anything and he’s never even felt the whip,” he continued. “Dave Palone drove him in an overnight and Tony Hall drove him in the fair final and they both said he had more trot than he needed. In the fair final he was sitting third and Tony pulled him early. They went right to the front and no one ever caught him.”

As a sophomore Cadence Hall will not be limited solely to fair competition.

“I will probably put him in the Stallion Series which he came within a second of qualifying for last year,” Daugherty said. “I basically kept him at the fairs, but I probably should have and could have put him in that series last year. Of course I’ll also keep him eligible for the sire stakes and if he’s good enough I’ll try him there too.

“He was competitive at the fairs, so I’m hoping if he stays sound that he will be super for me again this year,” he continued. “He’s only a fair horse, but he’s a nice horse and I’ll give him a chance with the better horses this year and see how he does.”