During a yearling auction last fall, Jay Weller wanted his wife to stop bidding on a filly when the price got to be $10,000. Louise Weller kept on firing, though, and she only stopped once her $13,000 bid caused the auctioneer's hammer to drop. A little more than a year later, the filly in question has won all 14 of the races she has participated in and banked $56,664 in purses.
Perfection can make $3,000 seem like absolutely nothing.
The unblemished filly is the Full Count lass Designer Specs. It is assumed that Jay has since forgiven his wife for going past last fall's $10,000 bidding threshold.
The Wellers plucked the Ohio-bred filly out of the 2019 Buckeye Classic Yearling Sale, where they had their eye on some colts that ended up being out of their price range.
“We went after Full Count colts, but they were all bringing $30,000 to $50,000,” Jayne, who is Jay's sister, has told The Advertiser-Tribune. “My brother didn’t want a filly, but that’s what he ended up with.”
Designer Specs trained down for Jayne in advance of her juvenile season on the Ohio Fair Cicuit, and once she got behind the starter, all she did was win, win, win. Jay was in the sulky for the large majority of the wins before Ryan Stahl took over for the last three races, the last of which was the filly's Ohio Fair Championship tilt at Northfield Park. In the championship, Designer Specs popped the pocket during the back half of the mile and eventually got up to win by a half-length over the tempo setter in 1:57.4.
Designer Specs, pictured victorious during her 2020 Ohio Fair Championship at Northfield Park.
"My husband and I knew about her third start that she was special," Louise told The Advertiser-Tribune. She also explained that Designer Specs was knocked off balance early during her first start and was 20 lengths from the leader from the outset. Designer Specs would go on the erase the sizable deficit and get up for a half-length win.
"Each race that followed, she seemed to prove that she was the best of the field and she showed her desire to win," said Louise.
"She is a once in a lifetime horse," said Louise, who feels blessed with the ride that Designer Specs has provided. "We are family and love the beautiful athletes we know as the Standardbred horse. Huge hearts with a passion to race."
(With files from The Advertiser-Tribune)