Game changer: Owleo’s Pride another McFlirty boon for Stonecipher

by James Platz

Homebred Owleo’s Pride got her first taste of Grand Circuit action last Friday (Sept. 25) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The 2-year-old pacing filly aced the test with a dominant wire-to-wire performance. Sent off as the favorite in the $200,000 Grade 2 Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake, the Ricky Macomber, Jr.-trained and Trace Tetrick-steered freshman romped by nine lengths in 1:51.1.

Fortunes can rise or fall on the output of one horse. Owner/breeder Jim Stonecipher has witnessed that personally. And while the exploits of Owleo’s Pride during her freshman campaign have been formidable, it is her dam, McFlirty, that has been a catalyst for an extended string of success for both Stonecipher and partners Ricky and Jamie Macomber.

“McFlirty has kept me alive in the business,” said Stonecipher one day removed from Owleo’s Pride’s graded stakes victory. “She definitely changed things for me.”

His involvement in harness racing began two decades ago. At the time, the Tipton, IN resident was managing a radio station. He could see the writing on the wall that his days in the business were numbered.

“We were going through a lot of transitions, a lot of takeovers, and I made it through four takeovers,” Stonecipher said. “The next time I had about a two-year window and I knew they were going to fire me. So, I was looking for something to do in retirement.”

A friend that owned horses recommended he consider getting into the business. Stonecipher did, and over the last 20 years he has consistently campaigned horses at Hoosier Park.

“I’ve had a lot of horses, as many as 17 at one time,” he said. “That was way too many. I bought horses at the yearling sale each year for several years and just tried to pick out good ones. Some of them were so-so. My very first horse was Tyson L. He was a very nice pacer and he did really well for me. I had a trotter that I bought out of The Meadows, his name was Wen-Mar’s Chip, and he also did really well for me.”

When Stonecipher purchased McArdle—Face The Table mare McFlirty in June 2012, he could not have imagined the ramifications. The 6-year-old mare had already earned $270,000 in her career when she was claimed at Hoosier Park. The next week she won her debut for Stonecipher. Trained by Jace Sundeen, the mare won three times to finish out the season, earning $57,800.

As a 7-year-old, McFlirty won five of 24 starts, banking another $59,500. During her 8-year-old campaign, the mare moved to the Ron Burke barn and later to Jamie Macomber, who managed Burke’s Indiana string. Over 18 starts, McFlirty hit the board 11 times with six victories. She took her mark of 1:49.3, won multiple filly and mare invites at Hoosier Park, and finished the season with $63,800 in purses.

“McFlirty was all heart,” said Jamie Macomber. “Every time she went to the track, she aimed to please. She always gave 100 per cent.”

The mare was retired three starts into her 9-year-old season, and while Stonecipher had never kept a mare for breeding, he entered a new phase of the business.

“She was such a good mare that I wanted to keep her and breed her and just see what the future held,” said the septuagenarian. “It has turned out extremely well.”

Stonecipher and the Macombers are partners on each foal that McFlirty has produced. To date, she has produced six winners from her first seven foals — two by Fred And Ginger and the rest sired by JK Endofanera — with all offspring earning a combined $815,319.

“She’s been quite the producer,” Stonecipher said. “You know, she’s 20 years old now and she’s in foal again. She’s been remarkable. She’s been able to catch every time, and she’s just a pleasure to have.”

Before the emergence of Owleo’s Pride, brother Flirtin Jk showed the fastest freshman mile of the group, pacing in 1:52.1. The 13-time winner is also the richest of the bunch, with $235,676 on his card, and he is still racing. Flirtin Fanera is next on the list with nine wins and $201,687 in earnings. She is also retired to broodmare duties and was bred this spring to Breeders Crown champion and new Indiana stallion Sippinonsearoc.

While all but one of McFlirty’s foals have found the winner’s circle, Owleo’s Pride has shown to be the brightest star yet in the family. In seven seasonal starts, the filly has registered three wins and has not finished off the board while taking a 1:49.4 freshman mark winning an Indiana Sires Stakes leg in late August. She is named for Stonecipher’s grandsons, Owen and Leo.

“She’s good gaited, has a good attitude, and loves her job,” said Ricky Macomber.

That Owleo’s Pride has managed two wins among her Indiana-sired peers speaks less to her ability and more to the cumulative depth of the division this year. Foes Fitterjake (1:49.2), Kountry Legacy (timed in 1:49.2), Mystical Jk (timed in 1:49.4), and Era Dominance (timed in 1:50) have routinely outshined their male counterparts in Indiana Sires Stakes.

“This year’s 2-year-old crop of fillies in Indiana is a phenomenal crop,” Stonecipher said. “It’s probably been one of the best they’ve ever had. In fact, the girls are going faster than the boys. This year is tough, but ‘Owleo’ is just like her mother. She does everything you ask of her and she has guts.”

Sent off as the favorite in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake, Owleo’s Pride and Tetrick dropped in third through the :26.1 first panel before brushing to the top. Clicking off fractions of :55.2 and 1:23, she distanced herself from the field in the second turn and won handily in 1:51.1 to collect her third seasonal score and improve her earnings to $196,280.

Owleo’s Pride is back in action this evening, drawing the rail in the first of two Indiana Sires Stakes divisions for freshman fillies, the last leg before the $250,000 Super Final scheduled for Oct. 9. Racing back in less than a week is not ideal, particularly when she has drawn in against Kountry Legacy (post 2) and Fitterjake (post 3), but there is strategy involved. With Tetrick committed to Kountry Legacy, Dexter Dunn will get some seat time behind the filly leading into the championship.

“Dexter is going to drive her in the final,” Jamie Macomber said. “This is a good opportunity for him to get a feel for her.”