by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — In Bill Bercury’s stable, a pacing mare along the lines of Do Me Honor usually has the first stall and after pounding the pavement for more than 18 months, he finally found exactly what he was looking for in the trotting mare Daylon Miracle.

“When this mare came along, let me just say I was ready, willing and able to bring her home,” said the Slippery Rock, Pa., resident. “I’m a used car salesman so I tried not to pay what they asked for her, but I did and I think I got an excellent value for her.”

A 5-year-old daughter of Pegasus Spur and the Super Pleasure mare Daylon Marvel, Daylon Miracle is truly the entire package. Her dam earned a little over $128,000 in her racing career and when it came time to become a parent, she absolutely excelled for her owner/breeder David Lemon.

Her first two foals by Mr Lavec never made it to the races, but her next six foals were all winners. In fact, Daylon Mystique (Amigo Hall 4,1:56.4f, $310,162) and Daylon Magician (Kadabra 4,1:51.1s, $1,634,267) were more than simply successful campaigners on the racetrack. Daylon Magician was Canada’s 2011 3-year-old trotting colt of the year.

New Image Media photo

Daylon Miracle has won 16 times in her career, with earnings of $285,503.

Daylon Miracle is no slouch herself. Unraced at 2, the mare has compiled a record of 50-16-7-8 and banked $285,503 with a lifetime mark of 1:53.1s established last year. She raced nearly exclusively in her native Canada as a 3- and 4-year-old, but last year she did venture down to the States for a third place finish in the $125,000 Miss Versatility Series final at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on Jug Day.

Since Bercury purchased her in the beginning of last December, the mare has competed on eight occasions at the Meadows with her results standing at 4-1-2 and $49,235 on her card. To say her new connections are thrilled about having her in their barn would be doing a grave disservice to their feelings in regards to her.

“I am so excited about her,” Bercury said. “I bought her with the intention of placing her in a couple of the mare trotting series. There are two races up in Canada that have slipped my mind right now and the Miss Versatility. I also supplemented her to the Breeders Crown.

“We are looking forward to having fun with her. She is a big, beautiful mare with a great gait. She’s a little iffy as far as taking care of her. With her personality, she is not a kid’s horse, but my wife Renee helps me take care of her and she gets along well with her groom, Mike McDowell. She doesn’t seem to need any vet work, she eats well, she keeps well and she loves to go to work every morning.”

Bercury admits trailering her to the Meadows was not exactly a smooth trip, but he has a philosophy about trotting mares that has stood him in good stead.

“She has a mind of her own, but I really can get along with trotting mares and I’ve done really well with them,” he said. “Do Me Honor (p,1:51.2f, $398,948) was also a very, very nice mare and if you get a good one, you just don’t push them around. That’s how you keep them for awhile. They are just like women, if you push them around, they push back and you never hear the end of it. I could give a good guy friend of mine a shove and three days later he would forget about it. Now not with my wife, she would still be telling me 15 years later, ‘Remember when you shoved me?’”

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Daylon Miracle posted a third place finish behind Maven and Bax Of Life in the $125,000 Miss Versatility Series final last September at Delaware.

Daylon Miracle has experienced some alterations to her equipment since arriving at her new home.

“We have actually removed some equipment from her,” Bercury said. “She had a couple head poles on, so we took those off and she had ears, so we took those off. Now she is just wearing only a Murphy Blind and she drives so very well. Aaron Merriman has been driving her and he is just a wonderful driver and an excellent horseman. She has been so terrific coming from the back, but we have been working on the front with her. She did get beat a couple weeks ago, but Aaron said he was probably within two seconds of the track record with her before and he never hit the gas.”

For now, Bercury will keep his new prized possession at the Meadows, but he could try her at Pocono or the Meadowlands in the coming months. There is also a trip he has planned to Ohio before September.

“Miami Valley has a mares race on May 5 that we will be taking her to,” he said. “I really believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg with her and we are so very excited to have her. We are truly looking forward to the rest of this year.”