by Charlene Sharpe, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Charlene Sharpe

Seaford, DE — When 6-year-old pacing mare Fashion Showdown won the Fillies and Mares Open in 1:50.4 at Dover Downs earlier this month, her trainer wasn’t surprised. He knew she had speed and figured it was just a matter of time until she proved just how fast she could be.

That doesn’t mean the 7-1/4 length win over a field with combined earnings of more than $2 million — that included the likes of Jerseylicious and Shine N Shimmer — was any less exciting.

“We knew she felt good that night,” trainer Craig McInnis said. “It was just amazing to watch and see her draw off like that. Some of those other mares are really nice.”

The Jan. 12 win for Fashion Showdown (Village Jolt-Catch The Show) was her 16th lifetime victory from 46 starts. She now has career earnings of $175,405.

Fotowon photo

Fashion Showdown has banked $175,405 in her career despite not earning any money as a 2- and 3-year-old.

The bay mare hadn’t made a dime when owner Chris White purchased her early in her 3-year-old year. Though she’d been timed in 1:58.4 twice, she appeared inconsistent and never finished better than sixth. White was not deterred. He pointed to the occasional fast quarters the filly showed.

“I’d seen her race at Dover,” he said. “I saw she had a lot of speed.”

When he got her back to McInnis’ barn at Tug River Farm in Frankford, Del., though, it was her behavior that worried him. The nervous filly was quite the handful, quick to rear and full of energy.

“I just put her in the field a lot and kept babying her,” White said.

It took the rest of her sophomore season but Fashion Showdown eventually began to settle down and developed a routine with her new connections.

McInnis admits she’s spoiled — she won’t even eat her breakfast until she’s been turned out in the morning — but points to the mare’s improvement on the track and newfound temperament in the barn. The once nervous, edgy filly can be handled by his 9-year-old daughter and is even occasionally towed with a four-wheeler.

“It’s unbelievable to see what she was and what she is now,” McInnis said.

McInnis, who has trained some standout mares during his many years in the sport, says the key to the mare’s success has been patience.

“I just took my time and tried to keep her quiet,” he said. “It’s nice to see how she’s turned out.”

Fashion Showdown raced just seven times as a 4-year-old but showed her connections the progress they’d been hoping for. After an initial qualifier at Dover Downs in 1:58.3, Fashion Showdown went on to win her first race at Harrah’s Philadelphia in 1:55.2 in her third start. She followed that up with a 1:53.1 victory at the Pennsylvania track.

It was 2015 though when the mare really came into her own. She started the season racing against non-winners of four competition at Dover and ended it as a top-three finisher in the track’s Fillies and Mares Open. In all she won 11 of 31 starts and earned $132,305.

“She’s just matured,” White said. “She’s been great the last two years.”

Fashion Showdown hasn’t slowed down yet, having won two of three starts so far this year. Though she missed a check last week, it was a bitterly cold night (with a two-second allowance) and a post-race scope showed she’d bled. Her connections opted to give her some time off to recover.

“She’s got a long season,” McInnis said. “It’s not like we’ve got to race her every week.”

Now that she’s matured, McInnis says the mare is no different than any other Standardbred. She’s easy to work with and requires little special care, rarely even training between races. The most unusual thing about her, he said, is that she can’t see out of one of her eyes. Though it’s there, it’s small and basically useless.

Microphthalmia, which is generally diagnosed in foals, is sometimes called small eye syndrome. McInnis says the condition doesn’t appear to bother Fashion Showdown at all, though he has noticed that she relies on her hearing more than most horses.

“She uses her ears a lot,” he said, “listening. Even in a race. Her ears are straight up.”

What some might see as a defect in the mare others have come to see as an inspiration. Lorraine Truitt, a longtime harness racing fan and founder of Horse Lovers United, looks forward to watching the mare race each week. After suffering a stroke in 2013, she’s struggled to regain all of her skills. Seeing Fashion Showdown overcome a physical defect has motivated her during her own recovery.

“Since Showdown doesn’t let her disability get her down, she inspires me to get up and get going,” Truitt said. “Even though I can’t do as much now, I can still do some things to help. She is my ‘therapy’ horse and all she asks for is a few carrots!”

Her connections are simply grateful for the mare’s success and hope it will continue.

“It’s so hard to get a good one,” McInnis said. “Every little bit she makes now is a plus.”