Many played key roles in horse’s rejuvination

BANGOR – When Abby C trotted across the finish line in record time at Bangor Raceway Sunday, she brought smiles to lots of faces, but not just those with a direct rooting interest.

Sure, the 6-year-old mare’s owner, trainer and driver were jubilant, but there are a lot of people who played a role in getting Abby C back to Bangor and into the record books.

“She’s a compliment to good care and a testament to poor care as well,” said 79-year-old owner John Brophy of Fairfield. “I give a lot of credit to the job Shawn Nye and Ron Cushing have done with her.”

Abby C, named after Brophy’s granddaughter, covered the mile in Sunday’s first race in 1 minute, 58.3 seconds to break the all-age trotting track record of 1:58.4 by Stars Photo in 2004.

The winning time has allowed Nye to keep the record in the family.

“It’s very satisfying for me. It’s once in a lifetime, really,” said Nye. “My brother Derrick had the track record here one time with Indianapolis and he held it for a long time.”

Brophy had all but given up on her after she’d bounced around from track to track in New England and suffered injury after injury for a three-year period. Last year, he finally sent her to Cushing, who retrained her. After some down time, she started winning some races, albeit sparingly. Two months ago, Abby C’s four-year odyssey came full circle as she was reunited with Nye, who trained her as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old.

“I hadn’t seen her for awhile until a couple months ago. I got her back and raced her a couple times, but she was no good,” Nye said. “Then we finally got her in gear.”

Brophy credited rest, re-training, and relaxation for Abby C’s rejuvenation.

“She’s been injured several times and nobody could tell us what was wrong,” said Brophy, who even sent Abby C to Cornell University for a complete evaluation.

Nye credited a mental makeover.

“She’s been kind of a mental patient,” Nye said with a chuckle. “I mean, I thought she was fast, but I didn’t know she was that fast.”

Driver Joey Mosher did.

“She showed us a big engine,” said the 39-year-old Smithfield native. “I was more concerned with keeping her trotting. I told Shawn she was hot as a son of a gun and we’d have to float her out of there and let her get gathered up.

“When the gates folded, she acted real good and strong so I just floated out of there with her and away we went.”

Mosher, who started harness driving when he was 16, said the only challenge was keeping Abby C focused.

“She’s been breaking stride later into the mile, so I really had to keep her attention the whole way,” he explained. “She started to get a little loose on me and I spoke right up. I had to holler at her the whole God-darn last three-eighths of the mile just to keep her attention.”

Mosher made another key contribution to Abby C’s success beyond driving. Brophy credits him for horseshoeing her perfectly, thereby restoring her ideal “balance.”

“I think that, combined with TLC has really made a difference,” Brophy said. “She’s got a lot of heart and I hope the key to her success has been found.”

Pillsbury is Iron Man

Longtime Scarborough resident and harness racing enthusiast William Pillsbury is the winner of the seventh New England Harness Writers’ Iron Man Award, given annually to people for longevity in the sport and good character.

The Easter Pepperell, Mass., native has lived in Scarborough the last 16 years and been a Scarborough Downs fixture since moving to Maine. The 77-year-old trainer and former driver started racing in the mid-1950’s at Foxboro Raceway in Massachusetts. Before that, he trained and drove horses in New Ipswich, N.H., and has been training harness horses for the last five decades.

He’ll will be honored at the 29th Hall of Fame awards Oct. 12 at Scarborough Downs.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net