“I tell my wife that she reminds me of her; she wants what she wants now. She’s a little impatient....My wife understands completely.”
When trainer David Wade saw Broadway Socks, well, she knocked his socks off.
“I fell in love the moment I saw her,” said Wade, who sends the three-year-old filly trotter into Wednesday’s second of three divisions of the Currier & Ives Stakes at The Meadows. “What a conformation, and I liked her video. I told my wife (Ann) that I was going to buy this filly or go home empty. I was only going to buy one, and I liked her so much that I didn’t want to buy another filly and end up disappointed.”
Wade bought Broadway Socks, a daughter of stallion Broadway Hall out of the mare I Gotta Feelin, for $35,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale. He owns the filly with Gerald Brittingham and William Peel III.
Broadway Socks has won six of 13 career races and earned $110,866. She won a division of the Arden Downs last season and heads to the Currier & Ives off a win in her division of the Historic-Coaching Club Oaks at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on May 25.
She starts her Currier & Ives division from post seven with regular driver Dan Rawlings and is the 2-1 morning line favourite.
Shake It Cerry, the 2013 Dan Patch Award winner for best two-year-old filly trotter, is the 2-1 favourite in the first division and Lifetime Pursuit is the 2-1 choice in the third division. Both fillies will be driven by Ron Pierce for trainer Jimmy Takter.
“I think (Broadway Socks) is as good as she’s ever been right now,” Wade said, adding with a laugh, “I’ve never been in with Shake It Cerry and I’m not looking forward to when I am.”
Broadway Socks is eligible to the Hambletonian Oaks, but will not participate in the race because Lasix is prohibited. Broadway Socks began racing on Lasix this year and has won three of four starts.
“I’m not going to race without Lasix,” Wade said. “It’s not fair to the filly.”
Broadway Socks’ stakes schedule includes the Circle City, Zweig Filly Trot, Buckette, and Arden Downs, plus the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, Pennsylvania All Stars, and Keystone Classic.
The Pennsylvania circuit includes the likes of Merrie Annabelle and Breeders Crown winner Shake It Cerry, world champions Cooler Schooner and Designed To Be, plus Breeders Crown runner-up Struck By Lindy and Merrie Annabelle runner-up Lifetime Pursuit.
“In Pennsylvania, I might be in the top 10,” Wade said. “There’s a lot better than I am. There are four or five capable of setting world records, and they have. But if (Broadway Socks) stays healthy, she can make a nice bit of money, I hope.”
Broadway Socks has finished among the top three in 10 of her 13 races. She went off stride the three times she failed to hit the board, all last season. Wade notes that "she can be a little quirky."
Wade also sends Miley Hanover out in the third division of the Currier & Ives. Miley Hanover, who has won two of five races this season, is 5-1 on the morning line.
“I thought she should have won her last start, but she bled and folded up like a tent in the stretch,” Wade said. “She’s on Lasix this week and we’ll see how we can do.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.