by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — You can race her from the back or on the front and her manners are impeccable, but like us all Lady Broadway possesses just one flaw that keeps her just a step away from perfection.

“She will do whatever you want her to do,” explained John McMullen, Jr., the filly’s conditioner and co-owner. “She doesn’t have any real problems or bad habits except she doesn’t get along well with other horses. We have a two-horse trailer here at our farm out in Western Pennsylvania and we have to be real careful hauling her because she will kick at other horses, so we have a little pair of hopples we put on her.”

A daughter of Broadway Hall and the S J’s Photo mare Lady SJ, the 2-year-old filly was purchased for $6,000 at the 2011 Harrisburg Sale and is also owned by Michelle McMullen. In 18 trips to the gate this year Lady Broadway was 13-1-0, earned $40,725 and set a lifetime mark of 1:59.3 on October 13 when she captured the $20,000 Pennsylvania Fair Final for her age, gait and gender st The Meadows.

Jeff Zidek photo

Lady Broadway’s 13 wins tied her with Sherrys Band for the most in North America by a 2-year-old.

On three of the four occasions she failed to hit the board, the filly broke at the gate or before the quarter pole, but after her first eight starts, she triumphed in nine of her last 10. Lady Broadway’s 13 wins are tied with colleague Sherrys Band for the most in North America for any 2-year-old.

“We don’t have a big stable and haven’t had a lot of horses, but we’ve had some nice trotters,” McMullen said. “We believe she might be the best 2-year-old we have had, but we do know she is a very nice trotter.

“My son was down at the sale that day and we picked out this filly because she happened to be in our price range,” the Armagh, Pa., resident continued. “We brought her home and broke her ourselves, jogged her all winter. After we brought her along, she raced well, although early on she would make a break leaving the starting gate and we believe we had her toes too short. When we got a little more foot on her, she went on and had no more trouble in that way.”

Naturally anytime a horse wins that many of its contests, overall, he or she has had an outstanding season, but McMullen does think the race she established her mark in stands apart from the rest.

“She went a lot of good races,” he said. “But I’m sure the Fair Final at the Meadows on October 13 was her best race. She was just particularly good that night. There was a horse in front of her and I think she went right on by at the quarter pole, then trotted home easily. Wilbur Yoder, the driver, drove her plenty of times for us and he never had to pick his whip up or get after her. She really did it all on her own.”

Lady Broadway has enjoyed a little more than two months’ vacation, but the filly is being prepared for a return to the daily grind.

“After we raced her at the Meadows we brought her home, jogged her a couple miles for several days and then turned her out,” said McMullen, who is the race secretary at the Indiana County Fair. “But the blacksmith (was) coming on Thursday (Dec. 20) to put her shoes back on and we are going to start back with her. There is a series at the Meadows at the end of March, the first of April that we would like to have her ready for.

“Also, we have different people tell us, like our drivers, that maybe we should look at the Stallion Series or the pari-mutuels for 3-year-old fillies,” he continued. “She is eligible for those and I believe that is what we will do.”