by Anna Svensson, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Nancy Johansson had just put her little daughter Ella to bed and was watching yearling videos one November evening in 2007, when a particular colt caught her attention.

“We were thinking of getting a Broadway Hall colt and I really liked the way this colt was moving,” said Johansson. “He had a powerful hind leg motion and he had charisma.”

She called her husband (Marcus Johansson), who was out in Harrisburg for the sale, to check out hip number 894, a colt named Broadway Custom.

Marcus brought his friend, Perry Söderberg, to inspect the colt. The conformation was good, but he had a swollen hock, cuts and scrapes on several places on the right hind. It turned out that the colt had acted up while he was about to get loaded onto the horse trailer (to go to Harrisburg) and had slipped and fallen on the pavement.

Nancy Johansson is hoping that Road Rash will advance to the Yonkers Trot final.

“The leg looked pretty ugly, but Marcus had a vet check it out and it was all just superficial injuries, it was just a little ‘road rash’ and that’s how he got his new name,” said Johansson.

When the colt came into the sales ring, some buyers were probably turned off by the look of that leg and Johanssons acquired him for $14,000.

“He’s out of the same family as Civil Action and some other nice horses, so we were very happy for getting him that cheap. When we got him home my dad (Jimmy Takter) liked him so much that he offered us $24,000 on the spot, but we wanted to keep the horse for our stable so I said he could buy a part of him.”

Now, a year and nine months later, Road Rash is in a Yonkers Trot elimination Saturday night, August 22.

“He’s only made $28,000 so far and we just put up $10,000 for the starting fee,” said Johansson.

It may seem like a gamble, but the Johanssons like their colt a lot.

“He’s had some bad luck and has been sick, but we’re hoping for a good shot this time,” added Johansson.

Road Rash is currently stabled at Millennium Farm in East Windsor, N.J., where he can run around and play in a big field every day.

“He’s rambunctious and a major pain in the neck sometimes,” said Johansson. “He tries to bite me all the time when I’m in his stall, but when my kids are around he quiets right down and wants to snuggle with them. He nickers when he sees Ella, because she gives him hay cubes. How could we not love him?”

There must be a lot of Road Rash talk at the Johansson dinner table, because a couple of the first few words that Marcus Jr. learned to say was “Road Rash.” He calls out “Road Rash” every time he sees a horse at the farm or on TV.

Anna Svensson photos

Ella likes to help out preparing the horses’ feed and adding supplements.

Johansson likes to bring Ella (four) and Marcus Jr. (19 months) to the barn on the weekends and sometimes in the afternoons when it’s fairly safe for them to be there.

“I grew up in the barn and I don’t over protect my kids, but I set limits. It’s not safe for them to be around when horses are being trained or jogged and when there is a lot of commotion in the barn.”

At those times the children are either at daycare or with a babysitter.

Sometimes it’s a struggle to combine motherhood and working at the barn.

“If we have to leave early to go to qualifiers the daycare isn’t open yet, then my mom has to help out taking them. Same thing if we go racing at night. It takes a lot of planning ahead to make it work.”

However, Johansson wouldn’t have it any other way. This is her life.