Missy Robertson hopes Single Girl will follow in her mom’s footsteps as a successful broodmare someday, but until that time comes, Robertson will continue to delight in watching the homebred pacer give her all on the racetrack.
Five-year-old Single Girl — one of 10 money-earners out of broodmare My Best Girl that have combined to bank $1.6 million — won Kentucky fair championships at ages two and three before racing primarily in Ohio last season and collecting a career-high $111,095. On Thursday, she takes on seven rivals in the Open Handicap for fillies and mares at Miami Valley Raceway.
Overall, Single Girl has won 25 of 72 races and earned $267,800. She was bred by Copper Cap Farm, which is operated by Robertson and her first cousin Susanne Johnson, and has been leased for racing throughout her career by Janet Banks.
“She’s been very good to all of us that have had anything to do with her,” said Robertson. “She just gives it her all. She doesn’t win every time now, but when the conditions are right, she will be right there. Those Open mares, oh my gosh, they are tough, but she hasn’t embarrassed herself.
“You just have to respect those mares so much. They just go out there week after week and keep putting it on the line.”
Robertson’s connection with Single Girl’s family extends back to the mare’s granddam, Armbro Calypso, and Robertson’s late husband, Frank Coleman, bred My Best Girl in partnership with Ellen Pierson. Following Pierson’s passing in 2005, Coleman received ownership of My Best Girl.
Leg issues prevented My Best Girl from excelling on the track, but she found success soon after retiring to motherhood. Her first foal failed to earn any money at the races, but since then she hasn’t missed.
My Best Girl’s top earner, male pacer Air Strike, was a dead-heat winner of the Kindergarten Classic in 2016 and has made $454,874 lifetime. Her second-highest earner, retired female pacer Ohmybelle, was a Kentucky Sire Stakes champion in 2012 and banked $339,375.
“We’ve had this family a long time and it’s just been thrilling,” said Robertson. “The family is just kind of one of those golden families for people that love racing. [My Best Girl] is a very small mare, but she has produced horses with tremendous will. That’s the only way I can describe it. The will to win.”
My Best Girl’s first nine foals were sold at yearling auctions, but when filly Single Girl arrived in 2018 after five consecutive colts, Robertson was not going to let her go.
“She had so many colts in a row, we thought we were never going to get a filly,” said Robertson. “When Single Girl came along, we decided we were going to keep her to replace the momma at some point. Hopefully, she will follow in her mother’s footsteps, which you never know. You hope the lineage will continue.”
Robertson’s connection with Banks began when Banks bought Ohmybelle as a yearling in 2011.
“We didn’t know Jan before that, but of course we became part of Ohmybelle’s fan club,” said Robertson. “When we kept Single Girl, we worked out an arrangement where she could lease her and we could retain her when she was ready to retire. She had worked for Castleton [Farm] for years and is very experienced in the business. She and her husband love racing; they’re just the most wonderful people. It just worked out.”
Robertson said Banks would decide when Single Girl retires. So far this year, the mare has one win and two seconds in six races. She heads to Thursday’s Open Handicap off a victory in a conditioned race last week and will start from post seven in the eight-horse field. Austin Hanners will drive for trainer Jeff Smith.
“We all have the horse’s best interest at heart,” said Robertson. “When she feels like she’s done, we’ll breed her. This filly is lovely to be with. Her mother is kind of a cranky one. She is much kinder than mom. Mom rules the roost. She will to this day, at [age] 21 and very pregnant, sail around this field like a kite and tell everybody who’s the boss.
“Single Girl is very fast, and very kind, and very true. She’s splendid.”
Robertson, who grew up with Thoroughbreds and was a jockey in her 20s and early 30s, was introduced to Standardbreds through her husband. Copper Cap Farm, located in Paris, Kentucky, is a boutique breeding operation that also boards mares participating in the state’s dual-eligibility program for the sire stakes.
“It’s just two old dames doing our thing,” Robertson said, referring to herself and her cousin. “We’re not spring chickens anymore and we want to have fun in this business. And it’s a fun business to be in if you come at it with the right attitude. Getting into the Standardbreds, this has been extra special because you get to watch them race more often. And if they have any quality, it’s a lot of fun.
“I’d love to have one of those high-flying, million-dollar earners that just comes out of the gate and never gets beat, but for the most part, these are our bread-and-butter horses. We’ve invested, even with our Thoroughbreds, in a couple of bloodlines and stuck with them and they’ve been good to us. When you’ve got the mares, that’s always a special thrill.”
Racing begins at 4 p.m. (EST) at Miami Valley. To download free race programs, visit the track’s website and scroll to the bottom of the page.
(USTA)