Perusing the wares for purchase is certainly not the same when it comes to buying a horse versus procuring any other coveted item. Paul Kelley, Staffan Lind and their partnership organization, however, are cautiously optimistic that signing the cheque for the undefeated pacer Seeley Man at the 2016 Standardbred Mixed Sale will yield exactly the same dividends and joy as Kelley’s investment in the sport’s reigning older trotter and world champion Obrigado.
The similarities are striking, while the differences are vast, yet Seeley Man, a four-year-old gelded son of Western Maverick-Perfect Launch could very well provide his connections with an emotion which far surpasses their financial output.
“I’m only a small partner,” said Kelley, who will condition the horse with a 24-24-0-0 resume. “We bought him on the last day of the sale (for $80,000) and I was looking for trotters, but none were catching my eye. That’s when Staffan approached me and asked about buying him. He put the whole thing (partnership) together and he is the one that has the horse now down in Vero Beach (Fla.).
“I have yet to get behind him, but Staffan says he is happy with him. I’ve been in this business a long time and I know horses like Obrigado don’t come along very often, but we hope this horse may be able to compete at Yonkers and eventually at the Open level.”
The first foal from his dam, Seeley Man is a big, strong individual, initially conditioned by Gerald Smith and guided by Kevin Switzer Jr. to a slate of 11-11-0-0 as a freshman.
Seeley Man winning his 11th straight race to cap his undefeated rookie season
Bred by Lynn-Marie Plouffe, the talented youngster equaled the Scarborough Downs track standard of 1:57.2 for freshman pacing males to conclude his debut campaign on Oct. 24, 2015 in the Maine Festival of Champions.
Seeley Man placed $74,296 in the bank while appearing exclusively in the Pine Tree State.
"It's not easy to get a colt through the stakes with an undefeated record, although it has been done on a number of occasions," Smith said during the post position draw prior to that contest, "but I'm particularly proud of that fact that Seeley Man has been charted on the lead at every quarter-mile mark in every race that he's ever contested. I'm pretty sure that no Maine Sires horse has ever accomplished that feat before."
After his stellar performances, Seeley Man changed hands as then owner Florence O’Keefe decided to sell the youngster. He arrived in the barn of Heidi Gibbs after the transaction was finalized under the new ownership of Kevin Sywyk, Ben Bill And Will Stable and O’Keefe to commence his journey through 2016 as a three-year-old.
Steered by Ron Cushing, who is engaged to Gibbs, Seeley Man paced to another 13 consecutive triumphs as a sophomore. The gelding lowered his speed badge to 1:54.3 in a qualifying race on June 21 at Plainridge Park en route to amassing $101,793 in purse money to up his career total to $176,089. He closed out his sophomore campaign with a divisional track record of 1:55.2 in grabbing another Maine Festival of Champions title.
Obviously, it was not a facile decision for his connections to place him for sale, but Cushing revealed the factors that determined exactly why Seeley Man will no longer be in rein to him.
“My son Mitchell decided he wanted to become a harness racing driver,” he said. “He is 18 years old and doing quite well (291 trips to the gate in 2016, 42-38-35, $134,785). This changed my plans to travel with a horse like this outside of Maine.
“I also purchased a horse, Shesjustadelight N that is undefeated (12-for-12) since we have acquired her. She has been racing at Yonkers and we hope to put her in the Matchmaker Series there.
“With helping Mitchell get started and running our stable, it’s a business decision. This does not mean I am not confident in the horse. I just cannot provide him the opportunities in Maine that he deserves or devote the time to him to give him those opportunities.
“I feel he is a very talented individual and I’m not saying he is Obrigado, but he has enough ability to place him in locations where he can demonstrate that. The best situation for us selling a horse like this was to have someone like Paul (Kelley) training and owning him. It’s not only Obrigado, but his work with Up Tempo, his association with the Maine program and all that he brings to the table. This horse is in the right hands.”
Lind, who like Kelley is known in the business for developing diagonally-gaited equines, is quite pleased with his new pacing acquisition.
“He has such a long stride,” Lind said. “We have been training him here for about a week and he is two fingers to drive. As I saw on his replays, he is competitive and when he gets in the spirit, it is difficult to pull him up when the race is over. He is like that in training; he is a very nice horse.
“I did talk to Paul about buying him because of his success with horses from Maine and our Plan A is to race him at Yonkers, but we hope he can compete with Open horses eventually as a Plan B.
“He needs time to transition to everything that is new for him and the stakes schedule is not out yet, but it is possible we will place him in series events this year at age four. But the transition for him is more important as he has many changes to adjust to, so we can see if there are opportunities for him as a 5-year-old. Giving him time to make those changes are more important to us now though.”
While Kelley realizes the expectations accompanying Seeley Man can lift one’s feet off the ground, like any participant in this industry, he remains guardedly optimistic about the horse’s future prospects. Yet he does provide the gelding with a healthy dose of respect.
“We know he can get over a half (-mile track),” he said. “And I’m familiar with the surfaces in Maine, so I realize some of the times he has went there to how those times would be on other tracks. You never know if he can compete with the quality of competition that he will have to face until he does so.
“Is he the next Obrigado? If he is it would be great for the state and their program and of course for us, but it’s simply far too soon to tell. All I know is any horse that goes undefeated for 24 races should be noticed for that accomplishment. I don’t care how good you are, it is difficult to overcome all the obstacles placed in front of you to be in the winner’s circle every time you race. That says something about this horse right there.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.