“I think another three weeks will make a big difference. Of course the doctors like to tell you another three months, but horsemen and cowboys have been known not to listen to doctors."

Bob McIntosh and I Found My Beach both are on the road to recovery.

The 59-year-old trainer is on crutches following surgery on Feb. 8. McIntosh was involved in a training accident a week earlier and suffered a broken pelvis, which required two plates and screws to mend.

“I wouldn’t recommend it for anybody,” McIntosh said with a laugh. “It’s getting a little easier to live with now. I’ve kind of turned the corner. I’m getting to the barn every day for a while and watching the horses train. But I’ll be glad when I’m able to get back out there; I miss being out there.

“I’m lucky; I’ve got a great staff that’s been with me a long time and they know how I like things done. I’m very fortunate there.”

McIntosh, a Hall of Famer in both the U.S. and Canada and winner of a combined seven Trainer of the Year honours between the two countries, hopes to return sooner than the three months predicted by doctors.

“I think I’m ahead of the curve,” the Ontario native said. “I think in six weeks I’ll be pretty close to getting back in a jog cart. I might go crazy otherwise.

“When the weather gets good I’ll be back in action, when it’s nice and sunny,” he added with another laugh.

I Found My Beach is recovering from a hairline fracture of a coffin bone suffered in early November. A son of Mach Three-Ohio Annie, the gelding won three of seven races and $197,776 for owners McIntosh Stables, Robert Kauffman and Patrick Ryan.

Ohio resident Kauffman bred I Found My Beach, whose dam, Ohio Annie, is a half-sister to Wheres The Beach, better known as the mother of two-time Horse of the Year Somebeachsomewhere.

I Found My Beach was rated No. 6 in the inaugural Hoof Beats/TrackMaster Predictive Rankings for three-year-old pacers, which attempt to forecast the fastest performers for 2012.

“He’s swimming right now,” McIntosh said. “I expect it would be maybe July before he qualifies, if everything goes according to plan. He has tons of talent. He was a tough little nut to train down, but I always knew he had a lot of go to him. He is tremendously talented and a very high speed colt. I think he’ll come back good.”

I Found My Beach’s top win came in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final on August 14 at half-mile Flamboro Downs, where he won in 1:53.4, equalling his mark set a week earlier in the eliminations. He was second to Warrawee Needy (No. 3 in the Hoof Beats/TrackMaster rankings) in an OSS Gold Final on Oct. 10 at Woodbine. Warrawee Needy won in a stakes-record 1:49.4.

“He’s kind of an ornery little dude,” McIntosh said. “He’s smart as a whip, but he’s a little aggressive and hot. I went with him almost every day; he was my own pet project. He was kind of like a bad kid in school; he was smart, but he knew how to get in trouble, too. He’s a character.”

Speaking of dudes, McIntosh has another highly rated three-year-old pacer in Dapper Dude. Checking in at No. 19 in the Predictive Rankings, the colt won two of five races and $73,865 for owners-breeders McIntosh Stables and Al McIntosh Holdings.

A son of The Panderosa-Dress To Suggest, Dapper Dude set the track record of 1:51.2 at The Meadows in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes division in August. He raced a limited schedule because of growing pains.

“He got a little colt sore behind,” McIntosh said. “We decided to quit with him and let him get his two-year-old aches and pains out of him. He was trying to tell us that was enough. He’s a good sized colt and he’d shown me enough. I didn’t want to push. I knew he’d be a good three-year-old.”

McIntosh has not established a schedule for Dapper Dude, but he will be staked to the summer’s major races for three-year-old pacers.

“We’ll bring him along and he’ll dictate when he’s ready,” McIntosh said. “I’m not big on rushing them back. We’ll see how it goes. He was impressive last year. He only raced a handful of times, but he showed a lot of talent. I’m optimistic for him this year.”

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.