Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Dabarndawgswatchin took an unconventional path to the Breeders Crown final for pacing mares.

by Melissa Keith

The resume of Dabarndawgswatchin (p, 5, 1:49s; $548,756) might be the most atypical of the 10 2024 finalists. No pacing mare going into the 2024 Breeders Crown final had nearly as many lifetime starts (106); only three in the field of 10 had more wins (24).

“It’s just an honor to get that far, you know,” said Julie Ferguson of Greely, ON. She and Lloyd Stone of Portland, ON are the owner/breeders of Dabarndawgswatchin, who started her career in June 2020 at Rideau Carleton Raceway and outpaced their wildest expectations.

She confirmed that this year’s Breeders Crown will be the last for the 6-year-old daughter of He’s Watching—Addison Bay, who finished ninth in the richest race of her life on Oct. 26 at The Meadowlands.

Dabarndawgswatchin’s origin story is unusual for a Grand Circuit performer today.

“We claimed the mother, Addison Bay [p, 5, 1:51.3s; $414,066], at Rideau Carleton,” Ferguson said.

In June 2012, trainer/driver Ted MacDonald began working with the mare. When he temporarily relocated after the Rideau meet, MacDonald met Dave Menary.

“He’d go to the barn in the morning, and Dave would be there,” Ferguson said. “He’d go home and come back in the afternoon to get ready to go race, and Dave would be there. He would go race and go back to the barn after they raced at Mohawk or Flamboro or wherever, and Dave would be there. So, Ted said to him one day, ‘Dave, what are you, the barn dog? You’re always here!’”

When Addison Bay began racing regularly at Mohawk in August 2012, Ferguson and Stone sent the mare to Menary.

“At the same time, she was there, Dave had He’s Watching [p, 3, 1:46.4m; $1,116,450], so that’s how we ended up breeding Addison Bay to He’s Watching,” said Ferguson. “The first one was a filly, Baywatching [p, 4, 1:52.3s; $91,614].”

Addison Bay’s second foal was named Dabarndawgswatchin, a reference to the ongoing joke between MacDonald and Menary.

“Dave calls Ted ‘the barn dog’ and Ted calls Dave ‘the barn dog,’ and this has been going on for years,” Ferguson said with a laugh.

The original plan had been to give the distinctive name to a colt. When Addison Bay produced another filly, her connections decided to use it anyway.

Dr. Peter Oddie helped with Addison Bay’s transition from race mare to broodmare.

“He was our veterinarian in Belleville and Kingston when we were there for years,” said Ferguson, naming two of the shuttered Ontario racetracks where she and MacDonald had started out.

“[Dr. Oddie] has a farm in Joyceville. When I decided to breed Addison, I called him… Him and his wife Bonnie have taken care of Addison since we retired her at 9 years old. He foaled out Baywatching, Dabarndawgswatchin, and one that didn’t make it, called Sparkle City.”

After missing a couple of years, Addison Bay produced Allison Bay, a 2-year-old All Bets Off filly who recently returned to training at Rideau Carleton; Cattlewash colt Dacattledawg, now a yearling; and weanling Cattlewash filly Washawayyurcares.

During breaking and training, Dabarndawgswatchin immediately stood out.

“Ted liked her right from the day he broke her,” Ferguson told HRU. “He’s broke a lot of babies and trained a lot of horses. Right from day one, he said she’s special. Smart, with a beautiful gait. She trained down free-legged, and just did everything he asked her to do, naturally. He never had to push her.”

Dabarndawgswatchin first qualified at Rideau Carleton June 24, 2020 for MacDonald, breaking her maiden there Aug. 11, 2020 in a 1:56 dead heat with 3-year-old gelding Mach Tie Son. The 2-year-old filly next won back-to-back legs of Mohawk’s Harvest Series by open lengths for driver Jody Jamieson and trainer Ronald MacDonald, finishing third in the Nov. 2 Harvest final before stopping for the year.

“We never race a 2-year-old very many starts anyway, especially one that shows some potential,” Ferguson said. “We brought her home and just turned her out at Garth Henry’s farm.”

After qualifying at Rideau Carleton June 2, 2021, the 3-year-old Dabarndawgswatchin relocated.

“Because Ted [MacDonald] knew Dave [Menary] from years previous, when he had Addison, he trusted him with her,” Ferguson said. “Any horses that we have that are good enough to go to Toronto, they go to Dave, because he’s a very hands-on trainer.”

Dabarndawgswatchin’s first sophomore win came July 16, 2021 against 4-year-old and younger female pacers at Mohawk. The homebred overachiever won an overnight race in an eye-catching 1:50.4 on July 16 for Trevor Henry, then brought home her first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold victory July 23. On Sept. 24, Dabarndawgswatchin and Jody Jamieson overtook Voelz Delight for another 1:50.4 win in OSS Gold.

Dabarndawgswatchin was fourth in 2021 O’Brien Award voting for the 3-year-old pacing filly category.

She has raced at Mohawk almost exclusively since 2022, rising to the distaff preferred level for the first time April 15, 2022. She finished a neck behind winner So Much More (p, 7, 1:49.1s; $1,287,526), who was on her way to a second O’Brien Award as Canada’s top pacing mare.

Dabarndawgswatchin won her first Mohawk filly and mare open handicap Sept. 24, 2022 for Dexter Dunn. While seventh in her 2022 Breeders Crown elimination, she bounced back with three straight wins before the end of the meet, including the Dec. 2 and 9 distaff preferred-2.

April 19, 2023, she signaled her readiness to return, winning her comeback qualifier by seven lengths at Rideau Carleton.

She took her 1:49 mark Sept. 23, 2023, a front-end victory over eventual 2023 Canadian Horse of the Year Sylvia Hanover in the Mohawk filly and mare preferred handicap.

This year, Dabarndawgswatchin took time off between June 7-July 26.

“She hadn’t been racing good,” said Ferguson, adding that co-owner Stone was just as concerned about their mare’s long-term health. “She was sick, and Dave just couldn’t get her blood right. He’s not a numbers guy. He really cares about the individual horses.”

As she recovered, Dabarndawgswatchin was turned out with a well-known pasture buddy at Menary’s father’s farm: Sintra (p, 4, 1:47.2m; $1,370,839).

Oct. 5, 2024, Dabarndawgswatchin made her triumphant return to the Mohawk winner’s circle, wiring in 1:49.2 to take the distaff preferred for Louis-Philippe Roy.

Ferguson took a moment to consider which wins meant the most.

“Probably her first [OSS] Gold,” she said. “That was amazing for us, small-town people. Then when she came back this year, and still at 6 years old paced in 1:49. I’m in tears every time.”

While entrusting Dabarndawgswatchin’s care during the racing season to the Menary team and Shawna Henderson, who usually paddocks the mare, Ferguson said she enjoyed spending time with her before the 2024 Breeders Crown final. She attended the race with her sister Joanne.

“I walked Dabarndawgswatchin in retention, the morning before the race,” Ferguson said. “You’re allowed to take them out and walk them or jog them or whatever, and there were like 15 or 20 horses walking in retention. All the horses that were in the Breeders Crown were out walking in the morning. So, I got to go and do that. It was fun.”

Although a longshot, Dabarndawgswatchin competed in the last three Breeders Crowns.

“She didn’t make the final the first year,” Ferguson said. “The only reason we put her in it was because it was so close… Actually, the first year we had to pay an additional thousand dollars because she wasn’t eligible as a baby.”

Dabarndawgswatchin will have a less ambitious campaign ahead, in what is expected to be her final year on the track.

“We gave her some time off after the Breeders Crown, and we’re hoping that she’ll be in to go [at Mohawk] this week,” Ferguson told HRU on Wednesday (Nov. 6).

When the Breeders Crown returns to Woodbine Mohawk Park next year, Ferguson said another “Dawg” will hopefully take over where his big sister left off.

“The goal is to get her brother there as a 2-year-old…,” Ferguson said. “Of all the babies, he does have her gait and he’s pacing free-legged.”

CORRECTION: In the most recent column, I incorrectly mentioned Robert A. MacKenzie, the late father of Jean-Marc MacKenzie. Richard Moreau actually worked for Jean-Marc’s late brother Robert “Robbie” MacKenzie, not father Robert A. MacKenzie. I apologize for the error.