The words 'heart' and 'determination' get thrown around with commonplace in the horse racing industry. After where three-year-old Yankee Paco filly Miracle Jan has come from, one can say, without hesitation, that those exact terms apply to her.
Her slate comes across as rather average. With two wins and a pair of thirds from 10 career starts, Miracle Jan's on-track credentials are far from that of a warhorse. What that record doesn't convey, though, is that it was a longshot for Miracle Jan to make the races, yet alone make it through her first couple of weeks after hitting the ground.
"I bought her dam, Chelemark Jan, for $1,600 at a Forest City Sale. She was in foal to Yankee Paco at the time," Miracle Jan's owner, Pat Cipolla, told Trot Insider. "A week after foaling, Chelemark Jan stepped on Miracle Jan's leg by accident. The situation, obviously, was not good."
Cipolla told Trot Insider that Miracle Jan's knee blew up the size of a bowling ball, and that he had to carry the foal in his arms -- with her dam not too far behind -- into the vet clinic.
"It was really hard to see a foal go through that type of episode. It's the type of thing that would break your heart, literally. She couldn't walk -- she couldn't put any weight on it (the leg) whatsoever."
A general consensus grew that Miracle Jan would have to be put down. The injury that she received was serious -- a potential deathblow to an animal bred to compete in the tough Ontario program. The proverbial writing may have been on the wall, but Cipolla saw something in the youngster -- something that led him to believe that Miracle Jan could overcome anything that got in her way.
"They wanted me to put her down, but I wouldn't do it. She fought through it. She was treated with penicillin and she started to get better," said Cipolla. "Slowly but surely, she got better and better. We ended up naming her Miracle Jan because it was a miracle that she was alive."
When Miracle Jan was ready to give a racing career her best shot, Cipolla, owner of the Baycairn Training Centre in Campbellville, ON, sent the filly to the care of trainer Mike Pennington.
"She raced a couple of times at Flamboro late in her two-year-old season," Cipolla explained. "She made a couple of breaks and then we quit with her for the winter."
Miracle Jan returned to the races in July of this year and picked up a couple of cheques in her first two starts over Mohawk Racetrack. As she began to get more and more starts under her belt, Miracle Jan started to flourish. To this point, the filly has only missed a cheque in one of her eight starts this season. Miracle Jan's purse earnings currently sit at $35,142, but the reward for the connections hasn't been measured in any monetary category.
"It looked like she was going to break her maiden in the first leg of the Middlesex Series at Western Fair," Cipolla told Trot Insider. "She had a head of steam behind her and then she was interfered with and placed up to fifth.
"You've just got to watch her when she's on the track -- she's so full of heart and determination. She just wants to compete. She wants to put horses away and wants to win."
Miracle Jan would break her maiden one week later in the second leg of the Middlesex, as she wired the field by a half-length, etching her mark in 2:03.3. The final a week later dangled a $48,400 purse. Blasting out from the rail with Brad Forward at her controls, Miracle Jan played catch me if you can once again. With the field closing on her through the lane, the filly with the fire in her eye held them off, tallying a nose victory in 2:02.4.
"I cannot express what it means to me to watch this filly race," Cipolla told Trot Insider. "After everything she has overcome, what she does out on the track, win or lose, is magnificent. I'll never get rid of her."
Cipolla said that Miracle Jan will soon be competing at Woodbine Racetrack in the Ontario-Sires Autumn Series, which will see eliminations on December 11 and a $50,000 (estimated) final on December 18.