by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — It has not been a long partnership but it’s been a good one. And Doug Paul hopes it can take him and his mom to the Promised Land of North Jersey in August.

Doug and his mom, Rosalind Paul, of M And L of Delaware have owned horses that have been trained by John Butenschoen off and on for a couple decades. Around four years ago, Bill Wiswell of Wisconsin joined the mix because he decided to spend a little more money than the Pauls one day.

Nigel Soult photo

As a 2-year-old Bill’s Man won two of 12 races and earned $70,441.

“We just went to a sale and we actually bid against Bill on a horse,” Doug Paul said. “He won the bidding and I went up afterward and I talked to him, and we ended up being partners on that horse.”

And they stayed partners.

“That was probably the worst horse we bought together,” Paul said. “After that we’ve been very, very lucky. We’ve had quite a few nice horses together. We normally buy a trotting colt and trotting filly together. John and Bill pick out the trotting colt and our group normally picks out the trotting filly. John trains him and we’ve had some very nice horses.”

One they are highest on right now is 3-year-old male trotter Bill’s Man, by Credit Winner out of 2004 Hambletonian Oaks winner Silver Springs. As a 2-year-old he won two of 12 races and earned $70,441. One win came in a $56,000 division of the International Stallion Stake and he had second place finishes in a $55,250 division of the Bluegrass Stake as well as a $28,585 division of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes.

“He’s staked to all the big races this year,” Paul said.

With all eyes toward $1 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands in Aug.?

“We’re hoping,” he said. “Everyone is hoping Hambo. Me and my mom have been in it for over 40 years now, so maybe this will be our first Hambo trip.”

And, of course, Wiswell is a big part of the equation. He not only bought the horse with Butenschoen, but the name was changed in his honor by the Pauls, who always like the word “Man” or “Lady” in their horses’ name. Bill’s Man was named Credit Volo when he was purchased as a yearling for $75,000 at the 2015 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

“He’s named after Wiswell and Bill’s been nice enough to go along with that,” Paul said. “It’s been a great partnership so far and we’ve been very lucky together.”

The group also purchased Fine Tuned Lady (who had Lady in her name upon purchase), a multiple stakes-winning filly last year who is Hambletonian Oaks eligible.

“She definitely has the credentials to get there,” Paul said, “so it would be nice to be there to watch both of them.”

Paul is especially excited about Bill’s Man, noting that the 1:52.3 record he took at Red Mile last year was the fastest ever for a 2-year-old by Credit Winner.

“Which is saying something when you look at how many foals he has had,” Paul said.

Butenschoen is reporting that horse has come back solid this year and seems more mature.

“When he keeps his mind on things, I think he’s as good as any colt out there other than (Dan Patch Award winner) Walner, which seems like a standout,” Paul said. “(Bill’s Man) is a handsome looking colt. He’s just an absolute gorgeous colt, and he’s out of a great mare. You can’t beat the mare.”

Which is why the group was not completely shocked at the horse’s performance last year, although they were pleasantly surprised at one aspect.

“When you buy a Credit Winner out of that type of mare you’re hoping to get a good horse,” Paul said. “But he had high speed for a Credit Winner, which exceeded our expectations. We thought we’d get a New York Sires Stakes horse out of it, but it looks like we got a Grand Circuit stakes colt out of it.”

Corey Callahan was the most regular driver of Bill’s Man as a 2-year-old, however, he was not always available because of other commitments. But no matter who was in the sulky, Bill’s Man was well behaved and although he went off stride in several starts, never made a break because of his manners.

“He was just a 2-year-old that wasn’t quite sure-footed,” Paul said. “We’ve raced him on big tracks because of that. We kept him off the New York Sire Stakes half-mile (tracks) and decided to keep him on the big track last year. It’s early, but it looks like he’s coming back nice as a 3-year-old. We’re expecting big things out of him.”

Those kind of expectations have become commonplace ever since Bill Wiswell managed to out-bid his future partners.