Homebred Door Dash delivers for longtime partnership

by James Platz

After turning in a fourth-place finish in his seasonal debut, sophomore pacer Door Dash has improved each time out, collecting three straight wins heading into tonight’s (June 26) program at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The Rockin Image—Metro Shopping gelding, bred and owned by Trent Stohler, Tim Graber, and Ben Graber, will contest the $95,000 third leg of Indiana Sires Stakes action for 3-year-old pacing colts, carded as race 10 on the program. Trained by Stohler, the homebred has excelled for his connections, winning the second leg of INSS action on June 12 in a lifetime best 1:49.1.

“He’s even better than I thought he was,” Stohler said. “I’m not going to tell you, ‘Oh yeah, I knew he was that.’ I’m not going to say he’s been a pleasant surprise. Whatever the word above pleasant is, that’s what he is.”

Consider that the longtime conditioner didn’t enter the year with lofty expectations for Door Dash. As a freshman, the dual-eligible pacer made two starts in the Bluegrass State, registering a pair of fourth-place finishes at The Red Mile in the Wildcat Series. In the first start, Door Dash paced in 1:55 with a :26.4 last quarter. The next time out, he circled the historic clay oval in 1:56, pacing home in :29.3.

“He’s a very big colt,” Stohler said. “He’s got a lot of leg to him, and we kind of took our time with him last year. When we got him started, non-winners of ones here at Hoosier, especially in July and August, go in [1]:52 and [1]:53, with :26.1 last quarters. I just didn’t feel like that was the right thing to do with him. He was dual eligible so we raced him at The Red Mile. He was respectable in his first start. We took him back down there for his second start, and I was so disappointed in his performance.”

After a week working with Door Dash following the Sept. 8 performance, Stohler consulted with his partners and the decision was made to turn the homebred out. He was sent to Wilt Standardbreds in Missouri for some time to relax and grow. Upon his return, the trainer wasn’t aiming for Indiana Sires Stakes. His plan for the sophomore was more realistic based on what the gelding had displayed the previous year.

“We always approach it as we’ll train them how we train them,” Stohler said. “They’ll get there when they get there, and we’ll see where they fall. We didn’t have any expectations of him this year bringing him back. Our goal is for him to make it back to the races, make us some money, be better than average and we’ll figure it out from there.”

But before Door Dash qualified in early May, Stohler had a hunch his charge might be better than he anticipated. The qualifying effort proved it. Guided by Kevin Lambright, Door Dash raced fourth, but closed in :25.4.

“About three trainings before I qualified him, I felt pretty sure he was better than average,” Stohler said. “Then the last time I trained him before I qualified him, I realized he might be better than even I thought he was. I sat out there on the apron and I watched him pace home, and what I felt training was what I saw.”

Drawing post 6 in his May 9 debut, a $10,000 event for non-winners of one, Door Dash paced fourth at double-digit odds, registering a 1:53.2 mile and :26.2 last quarter. He returned 12 days later to collect his first win, a 1:52 triumph where he romped by more than nine lengths as the favorite. That was followed by a 1:51.3 score where the gelding once again was tabbed the bettors’ choice.

Stohler dropped Door Dash into the second leg of Indiana Sires Stakes action. With opening leg winner Odds On Mr Mamba in Canada for the North America Cup, the race was up for grabs, and Door Dash delivered. Sent off at odds of 42-1, Lambright and the longshot used a pocket trip to spring the three-length upset and drop the pacer’s mark by more than two seconds while increasing his seasonal bankroll to $59,050. More importantly, the sophomore earned valuable points to help in securing a place in October’s Super Final.

“We got the cleanest trip by far,” the co-owner/trainer said. “Jeff’s colt [favored Swiss Lights] got a really bad trip. So, we got the cleanest trip, but you know he still did his job. It wasn’t like he was staggering to the wire and won by a neck. I’m also a realist. I know if three other horses got the same trip as he did, we probably wouldn’t have the same result. So here we are. Whatever he does from here on out is a bonus.”

Door Dash’s dam, Metro Shopping, was campaigned by many of the same connections. A $3,000 yearling purchase, the Metropolitan mare hit the board in 36 of 60 starts for Stohler, winning 14 times. She earned a little over $200,000 on the track competing against the Brian Brown-trained combination of Color’s A Virgin and Candy’s A Virgin. Metro Shopping has turned into a 100 per cent producer, with each foal reaching the winner’s circle.

Door Dash is the fastest of the lot, and Stohler credits his partners with the support they provide as he manages the group’s racing interests.

“They have invested so much, but this horse has become what he is because they are unbelievable partners, friends and owners that allow me to do what I think is best,” he said.

Door Dash is presented with the same challenge Stohler faced with his mother. Tonight, the gelding and six of his peers will be tasked with handing Odds On Mr Mamba his first seasonal defeat. That’s a tall order considering Beau Jangles, reigning Horse of the Year, came up short in two attempts against the current leader in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Poll. But the trainer’s focus is more on how his pacer responds after the latest win, particularly with post position 7. Only Aces And Cinches has a further outside post. Door Dash’s performance will determine his schedule, whether he remains in sires stakes or moves to sires stakes eligible contests, and when he returns to Kentucky and the sire stakes program there.

“One hundred per cent he’s going to Kentucky,” Stohler said. “He’s giving himself an opportunity to go down there. It’s a clay track, a mile track, and he’s such a big horse. There are three levels there and two levels here, so he’s got options.”