by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — She might very well have been a perfect 15 for 15 in 2014 if only Ralph Andersen had not erred in regards to Mary Rose Of Topaz’s equipment early in the season.

“I take all the blame because it certainly wasn’t her fault,” said the 3-year-old filly pacer’s conditioner. “I train at a farm track five miles from Plainridge and she made a break on me her first start because I had to tighten her hobbles up and alter her headgear.

“When she got on the half-mile track I had to just take her head up for her to get her balance and her hobbles needed to be taken in for the same reason. We tightened them up an inch at first but had to go out to two because that wasn’t enough. I didn’t even think about changing anything because I had trained her (a quarter) in :27.4 before she even qualified.”

Michael Newman photo

Mary Rose Of Topaz won her final 12 starts in 2014 for trainer Ralph Andersen.

A second generation homebred for Andy Card, Mary Rose Of Topaz is a daughter of Ashlee’s Big Guy and the Tridium mare Rose Of Aquamarine. She is the third foal out of her dam, who had ability, but never realized her true potential due to injury.

This filly did not exactly set the world on fire as a freshman, with a record of 4-0-3-0 and earnings just shy of $8,800, but this year everything came together and Mary Rose Of Topaz collected $103,217 with a record of 15-12-1-0 and a lifetime mark of 1:56.2f established in a triumph in a Massachusetts Sire Stakes contest at Plainridge Racecourse on Sept. 28.

After Andersen figured out why she was breaking early in her first couple starts, the filly captured 12 straight races in Maine and Massachusetts with Kevin Switzer Jr. holding the lines in nine of those wins and Andersen driving in the other three.

Mary Rose Of Topaz is Maine’s 2014 3-year-old filly pacing champion, as she annexed the $85,001 Maine Standardbred Breeders Stakes final at Scarborough Downs on Oct. 11 and captured the $18,173 Massachusetts Sire Stakes final for her age, gait and gender on Oct. 19 to conclude her season.

“Mr. Card has been involved in harness racing in this area for a number of years,” Andersen said. “I had driven horses for his grandson Andy before and they asked me to take four horses for them last winter. I picked them up, including her, in January and she was good right at the start.

“I had high hopes for her. At two, she was trained by a fellow named Steve Quinn that did a great job with her.”

In the 67-year-old Andersen’s assessment, Mary Queen Of Topaz is quite nearly the perfect racehorse, as she is excellent around the barn, has a great mind and a tremendous amount of speed. Those are certainly ringing words of praise from a man who has been involved in this business as a driver and trainer for nearly four decades.

“Another reason this filly was so successful this year was Kevin Switzer,” Andersen said. “We share a great relationship and have for years. I have the utmost respect for him as a horseman and driver. The trainer and driver have to communicate and we certainly did with her.

“We wanted to race her behind from off the pace all year and when he told me he was ready to do that at Fryeburg, I told him to do whatever he felt was best with her. He deserves a lot of credit for the work he has done with this filly.”

Mary Queen Of Topaz is enjoying her winter vacation over the holidays, but shortly after the beginning of the year, she will return to training for her 4-year-old campaign.

“If you want to know the truth, I wanted to let her hobbles out again for the last final, because I know she has much more speed than she was able to show this year,” Andersen said. “But I thought twice about changing anything at that point.

“I am very excited for the coming year, because I think she can compete at Yonkers and where she will race will depend on how good she becomes as the season goes on. I think she can pace in (1):54 over a small track and will give an excellent account of herself in 2015.

“We have even shipped her more than seven hours from my track up to Maine. Nothing bothers her and I think she is good enough to race outside of the area.”