Once a week, throughout the harness racing season, Woodbine Mohawk Park will profile a horse who has had a life-changing impact on one of their closest connections.
This week, the series features trainer Dave Menary, who earned his 1,000th career victory on April 11 at Mohawk, and the horse deemed ‘harness racing’s bargain of the century,’ Hes Watching.
“He was kind of a fairytale horse,” said Menary of the champion pacer he purchased for $3,000 as a yearling at the 2012 Standardbred Horse Sale.
“At two, he raced eight times and was undefeated. He set six track records and two world records. He won the Dan Patch Award for Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year, and at the end of the year, we sold half [interest] for a seven-figure number.
“At three, he came back and won the Meadowlands Pace, the fastest race in history at the time. Then he went off to stand stallion in Ontario. He's the cheapest yearling I ever bought. To accomplish what he did, it's what dreams are made of.”
Hes Watching
Foaled: June 13, 2011
Sire: American Ideal (NY)
Dam: Baberhood
Starts-Wins-Seconds-Thirds: 21-13-3-1
Earnings: $1,129,215
Trainer: Dave Menary
Owner: Menary Guerriero, Muscara Racing Trust, Let It Ride Stables, Bottom Line Racing
Breeder: Brittany Farms, Robert Burgess, Karin Olson Burgess
What do you recall from the first time you met him?
“He wasn't on my short list, because he was born in the middle of June and was a New York-sired colt, but I really liked the colt – great head, great foot, great back end. But he was small in the middle of June. I thought he was the type of horse you'd have to wait on.
“I pegged him in the $30,000-40,000 range. He was [Hip] number 822. I was talking to Jeff Ruch when he sold and I had my book all marked up and I thought they can't be on the right horse. It took two bids, but I bought him for $3,000.
“I think that year we had 24 babies to break and he came in on the last load, Dec. 4. He was good right from the get-go. At the time, my second trainer, Francis Richard, and I were joking that this little cheap colt can go more than some of these expensive ones we've had in for two months.”
What race of his was most meaningful to you and why?
“The whole two-year-old ride was amazing, but it definitely would have to be the Meadowlands Pace. This was the first time I ever had a horse in the Meadowlands Pace and he won the elimination and the final, but he just did it with such authority. It was the fastest race ever. He came home in [:25.3] that day. [Driver] Tim [Tetrick] turned around and started celebrating like 10 lengths before the wire.
“It was just unbelievable. It was the kind of thing I dreamed about as a kid.”
What human athlete would you liken him to and why?
“I guess it would have to be somebody that lacked a little bit of size but had a lot of speed and grit. Maybe someone like [former NHL forward] Theo Fleury or somebody who lacked size, but didn't know they did.
“He was a tank, this horse. He wasn't very tall, but I think he's the hardest horse that I've ever had. He was more like a Pit Bull or a Bulldog. He was all muscle, like [former NFL running back] Marshawn Lynch.”
Three words to describe him?
“Fast. Fast. Fast.”
How has he changed your life?
“At the time, he was very good for myself and my partners – racing him and selling him. He put a lot of yearlings and a lot of horses in the barn and, at the end of the day, probably ended up buying my house.
“There's still a lot of little Ma and Pa operations in upstate New York. He gave everybody right across I-90 hope. There's still hope for the little guy. Once you get the home from the yearling sale, it doesn't matter what they cost, you treat them all the same.”
(With files from Woodbine; photo of Hes Watching in the winner's circle at Mohawk Racetrack after winning a 2014 Somebeachsomewhere Stakes division)