The Dr. Ian Moore trainee will make her second 2021 start in the first leg of the $50,000 Ohio Sires Stake on Sunday (May 2) evening at Miami Valley Raceway.

by Jay Wolf

The state of Ohio has been special to trainer/owner Dr. Ian Moore and thanks to a promising 3-year-old filly pacer, Lady Arthur, Moore is expecting more great things in the Buckeye State.

Lady Arthur is the homebred daughter of Arthur Blue Chip—April Three. She is owned by Moore, R G McGroup and Serge Savard, the same connections who hoisted the Little Brown Jug in 2008 thanks to Shadow Play’s gutsy two-heat world record performance over the Delaware, OH oval.

Last Friday night (April 23), Lady Arthur started her 2021 campaign by capturing the $50,000 Scarlett and Gray Invitational at Miami Valley Raceway, surviving a fast-closing Summer Touch, the defending Ohio Sire Stake champion, and a lengthy inquiry.

Lady Arthur and driver Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. took the early lead as the gate’s wings folded. When Free Thinker and Dan Noble cleared the lead before the quarter mile station, Lady Arthur was not content sitting in the pocket and retook the lead as the field crossed under the line for the first time.

As she turned for home, her old issue of being hard to control resurfaced. Lady Arthur drifted in the lane causing the judges to take a long look at the stretch drive.

“There was a bit of that (headstrong) stuff the other day, which didn’t totally surprise me, but she’s been so good down (in Florida),” said Moore. “She grew and filled out a lot over the winter. We didn’t do anything different with her except try to settle her down.”

As a 2-year-old, Lady Arthur quickly made a name for herself in Ohio. She won the opening leg of the Ohio Sire Stake (OHSS), finished third in the second OHSS leg and took a $49,300 division of the Ohio State Fair Stakes — all at Eldorado Scioto Downs.

“The first few months she raced every two weeks,” said Moore. “I would send her down on Thursday and bring her back to Ontario on Sunday. When I had to leave her there (in Ohio) things kind of fell apart.”

She broke stride in the third OHSS leg and was parked for much of her mile, finishing fourth in the fourth and final leg.

“She had trouble with the half-mile track (at Northfield Park),” admitted Moore. “She became headstrong and hard to control on the track.”

Thanks to her early season performance, she garnered enough points to qualify for the $300,000 OHSS final at Scioto Downs.

Lady Arthur left the gate alertly from post 7, but once again broke stride going into the first turn.

Moore brought the filly back to Ontario for her final three starts of the season.

With Bob McClure in the bike, Lady Arthur finished sixth in the $65,865 Champlain and thanks to a fifth-place finish in her elimination, she qualified for the $341,250 She’s A Great Lady final.

In the final, Lady Arthur and driver Jody Jamieson had an adventurous trip to say the least. Leaving from the outside post #9, they were three-wide into the first turn, were able to get into the three-hole at the quarter. She was shuffled to eighth at the top of the stretch. While gaining ground in the lane, she was run into by the eventual unofficial winner Scarlett Hanover, pinballing into two other fillies. She was placed up to sixth after the review.

She finished 2020 with a 2-1-1 record in 10 starts, earning $60,931.

“She’s got to be the strongest-willed filly that I have ever trained,” said Moore. “If you get into a battle with her, you are going to lose because she will fight you to the bitter end.”

Lady Arthur’s second 2021 start will be in the first leg of the $50,000 Ohio Sires Stake on Sunday (May 2) evening at Miami Valley Raceway. She will leave from post #4 in the first division with Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. listed to drive. The second OHSS leg is scheduled for June 5 at MGM Northfield Park.

“We are going to make a couple of minor equipment changes for Sunday,” said Moore. “We got to get her through this weekend, before we try some wholesale changes.”

Moore knows Lady Arthur’s family quite well. He trained and co-owned her sire, Arthur Blue Chip (1:50.1f; $524,707).

“Arthur Blue Chip is probably the only horse I’ve ever had that never got to meet his full potential,” said Moore. “He had so many self-induced injuries, in stalls and paddocks. There was so much left in the tap that we never got to see.”

Ohio breeders didn’t see the potential during his two years standing in Ohio. He only had 13 registered foals in his first crop – twelve of which made the races. His second year, he was only bred to 11 mares.

Moore moved the stallion to Woodmere Standardbreds on Prince Edward Island for the 2019 breeding season.

“This filly looks a lot like him, built like him. She’s been tough as nails. She’s one of the toughest fillies I have ever trained.”