They say happy endings only happen in fairy tales, but if anyone has found their Cinderella story, it’s the team behind the 2024 Jugette winner, Soft Shot.

Owner Paul O’Neil and trainer Jessica Roegner met in 2015 when Roegner and her husband, Don Sherman, moved to Saratoga.

“We actually bought grain from Paul and met him that way,” said Roegner. “We trained the first horse for him named Docs Boy and that’s how it started. We moved out to Ohio and when Godiva Seelster wasn’t getting in on a regular basis at Pompano, he called and asked if we’d take her.”

Godiva Seelster went on to set a world record for fillies on a half-mile track at Northfield Park in 2018 for the team.

Fast forward to September 2024 and Roegner and O’Neil were set up for a new adventure: a taste of the Grand Circuit.

Soft Shot showed up on OnGait in late 2023 after five starts as a freshman. With a record of 2-0-2 in five starts, the daughter of Heston Blue Chip and the Bettors Delight mare Aims Whisper showed a mark of 1:55.1 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. O’Neil clicked down as the final bidder with a $30,000 price tag.

“I browse OnGait a lot and when I get interested in one, I look at the humans involved, where they raced the horse and where they went. I try to look for people I’ve bought from in the past and had success with, but there was none of that with this one. I get really into watching replays then,” said O’Neil. “There were some things I saw in her replays that stood out to me. The replay sold me on her. I sent it to Jess and she agreed. I was very comfortable with what I paid for her.”

Known as ‘Shooter’ in the barn, the filly debuted in her sophomore campaign at Northfield Park in a qualifying session driven by Sherman.

“She trained down fantastic all winter long; she did nothing wrong training down," said Roegner. "I always joked that I got to train her and our other colt, Rock The Hill, down because they were so perfectly behaved while Donny had to drive all the naughty ones.

“She qualified awesome,” she continued. “At the time, she didn’t wear that turned up shadow roll, but the water truck had left a streak on the track and she jumped it going behind the car, so she got away last. When Donny went to move her in the qualifier, she just went. She really looked good then and then she just kept winning and getting faster, looking more impressive.”

After her qualifier, Shooter went on an eight-race win streak, improving her time with each win despite racing in the company of aged mares with each start.

“Michael Carter called around the time of her fifth start in to ask about the Courageous Lady. We kept that in mind and kind of tried to point her towards it. The week of the Courageous Lady, we messaged Paul about supplementing to the Jugette and he mentioned that he had been thinking about it as well.”

Two starts before the Courageous Lady, she finished third and second, then went on to finish third in the Courageous Lady after cutting the mile from post seven. She qualified again, then picked up the pace, quite literally, with a career best 1:51 in the distaff Open at The Meadows.

“She follows a very specific schedule,” continued Roegner. “Before bringing her, the weather was perfect so she was able to go out each day before she jogged or trained. We trained her Sunday before we brought her in. We knew she could get around a half-mile [track], so we weren’t worried about training her at Delaware. I was a little worried about not being able to turn her out. She does go out with two other horses. It’s not knowing how they are going to take messing up their routine. We walked her every morning and obviously it didn’t seem to bother her, though she was glad to go outside today.”

Going to the Jugette was a novel experience for the team as their stable was completely tied to overnight races.

“It was a two-hour ship. She took the shipping very well. Even dealing with all that goes into racing in the Jugette – we’ve never Grand Circuit raced – having to be there two days ahead of time for detention. That was a cool experience in itself,” said Roegner. “She didn’t mind the new scenery at all. If anything, she was taking it all in. She never missed a meal. When she was eating, I felt good about everything. She didn’t mind being around the crowds too much.”

Soft Shot was one of two paid entries into the 2024 Jugette with a $15,000 USD supplemental fee backing her.

“I knew she was a real nice horse; she was beating some pretty nice older horses all year, she beat them a couple times in the Open at Northfield and then went to the Meadows and beat them there," said O'Neil. "We knew she was really good off the car, the half-mile track was her home and just Jessica was really confident in her – her attitude, her appetite, the way she carries her weight – all systems were always go with her. Writing that cheque was no problem at all."

To date, the filly now has $307,609 earned this year with a record of 11-1-2 in 14 starts.

“She’s an absolute pleasure to be around. She’s great in the barn. She loves attention and will bang on the gate and rattle her feed bucket when she’s getting bored and wanting some attention. She’s a really cool horse,” said Roegner.

Despite her record, it seemed like a “soft shot” indeed of winning an elimination, let alone the final.

“I thought we had a shot [to make the final] no matter where we drew because there were only six in each heat and she’s pretty fast off the car, so if she drew poorly, I would think she would leave fast enough to not have to come from sixth,” said O’Neil. “But she can also pass, so I thought we could make the final. Making it and winning it are different. We had a pretty good edge with the draw in the [elimination].”

Shooter did just that and shot out of the gate, protected rail position and soared home to a world record time of 1:49.3 in her elimination.

“My wife and I went out to watch the race," said O'Neil. "I’m watching her come to the wire and I honestly didn’t think she went that fast because of the way she did it. She wasn’t really urged a lot and she’s so smooth and good gaited that she makes it look easy."

Just 20 minutes later, the record was reset by Ron Burke’s My Girl EJ in the second elimination with a time of 1:49.1, though. But now it was time to point towards the final.

“The stars aligned when the draw came out and we had Dave Miller from the rail in the final of the Jugette with a pretty nice filly. I was like, ‘Could this really happen?’ Everything worked out great obviously,” said O’Neil.

Shooter returned in the final with the rail and determination. She cut the mile with splits in :27.3, :56.1 and 1:23.4 before cruising home to score by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:51.

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“I think it was an amazing story. It was great for the people and it just goes to show you that dreams do come true,” said driver David Miller.

For Roegner, being a part of the Jug Day was a lifelong dream and their team took home three winners in one day, including the marquee event for pacing fillies.

“I’ve watched both replays probably a dozen times, cried a little bit more, it’s still crazy,” said Roegner. “It was a great day. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Delaware does a great job. Our first time having to ship into detention, everyone was very helpful and treated us super nicely. The first [Jug] I went to was when I was 16 and I’ve gone to every single one outside of two and I’m 40 now.

“We’ve talked about having a horse that could be in the Jug for years and years and this was one that we thought we could bring and make some money and have some fun. We had some fun for sure,” added Roegner. “It couldn’t be any cooler for me.”

In the winner’s circle, O’Neil was met with support from his wife, Patti, as well as his trainer and her husband, but the minutes to days following the victory, O’Neil was shrouded with support from horsemen all over and especially at Saratoga.

He is considered a local hero at the Saratoga Harness Track. O’Neil built and owns the local feedstore, Malta Farm and Garden, that has since expanded to five locations. He provides support for the horsemen on a regular basis, contributes to any and every fundraising effort or event, and helps in any way he can. His most notable contribution was feeding the Saratoga backstretch for a week during the COVID-19 shutdown before teaming up with the horsemen's association to continue supplying the barnyard with feed for free for a month.

“I see how hard the people in this business work, it’s a seven-day a week job. These are my friends and they are my competition sometimes," said O'Neil. "The horsemen are a small community and horsepeople need to support horsepeople. If I have an opportunity to help, I’m going to help. I’ll never turn anything down." 

“I’m just thankful for the people that I’m dealing with and for what they do. Both out there and here,” concluded O’Neil.

For now, the future racing schedule of Soft Shot is still in discussion, but the 2024 Jugette winner has already hit her mark for the team of Jessica Roegner and Paul O’Neil.

(UNY USHWA)