The partnership of the Paul and McLane/Armitage families is one of the most dynamic new duos in the game.
by Murray Brown
Doug Paul estimates that he has been involved with harness racing for about 50 or so years. It was always a family affair enjoyed by his parents, his late father Ralph and mother Roz, still with us and very active in the family enterprise at the spry age of 89.
One might have thought that after a half century in the game the Pauls would have gone through numerous trainers. The fact is that there have not been more than a handful. Two of whom, Larry “Bones” Rathbone and John Butenschoen, are still with them. In the case of Rathbone, it is now in the role of an advisor when it comes to shopping for yearlings. With Butenschoen it is still as a trainer of young horses after training in the area of 100 head for them in about 40 years of doing so. He has trained horses for the Paul family since Dr. Ken Walker first recommended him as a trainer after Dr. Walker had bought Billie T Bret from the Pauls to stand at stud for him.
Presently Doug has added to his resume the role of an advisor to friends Jim McLane and his wife Rita’s relatively new Armitage Farms in Midway, KY (both Doug and McLane were interviewed by Heather Vitale at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg, PA).
You’ve been doing this for a long, long time where and when did it begin?
“It probably started somewhere in the early 1980s at Brandywine Raceway. My parents had a raceway stable there. Our first trainer was Eddie Davis. We also had horses with Jimmy Larente. We slowly transitioned from a raceway operation of overnighters to one specializing in purchasing yearlings, with a view of them hopefully becoming Grand Circuit stakes performers. Harness racing was always part of my life. I literally grew up in it.”
So, you now were transitioning, going from racing mostly overnight horses to specialize with yearlings. How did this come about?
“Our stable, known by its name M And L [Man And Lady], began giving the late Abe Stoltzfus yearlings to train for us. Abe would pick and race them for us. We usually change the names of the yearlings we buy to have the word man for the colts and lady for the fillies as part of the names which were changed to reflect them.
“Abe was to become part of our racing enterprise for the rest of his life, even though he had his own public stable. Bones Rathbone had been Abe’s assistant. He then came to work for us as our private trainer. Bones is still part of our team in picking yearlings for both M And L and Armitage Farms. But, make no mistake of it, Abe was our most important asset when it came to the yearling business. There are not that many in harness racing who realize how great a horseman Abe Stoltzfus was. He was truly exceptional and a great friend. I miss him.”
How so?
“I don’t know how to describe his talent, but he would just look at a horse and in an instant, he would usually give you an idea of its chances of becoming a good racehorse. He didn’t necessarily have a prototype for his ideal horse, but one of the things he was generally adverse to was a particularly big colt or filly. He preferred a medium sized, maybe even a slightly smaller sized one. We lost him from a heart attack suffered doing what he loved to do most, while being at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale two years ago. We sure miss him. Now the three of us Abe, Bones and myself are down to just two. We try to do or best in emulating Abe and his picks.”
Just the two of you at the sale, no vets, no farm visits, no turn outs?
“That’s pretty much it. We have never used a vet to help us with our picks. In all the years we have been doing this I cannot recall us ever wanting to return a yearling that we’ve bought. I do need to add that when purchasing yearlings for Armitage we usually do x-ray them beforehand. This is because the dollar amounts are usually very high on the ones they pick. The thought is that it’s wise to be more cautious.”
How did your association with the McLanes come about?
“I had known them for a few years and we had become friends. They were visiting at my house. I excused myself to watch a horse that we were racing. Jim went along to watch. He was intrigued. He wanted to get involved. He did indeed get involved. Did he ever get involved! Within a very short time he was seriously involved.
“He and Rita have become more interested in the breeding end of the sport than the racing part. Within a couple of years, they had bought a beautiful thoroughbred farm in Midway, KY, hired as its manager Dale Holly, a horseman with a great background with the thoroughbreds and as his assistant, Tim Hayes, who has worked with standardbreds all his life. They now have 49 broodmares, all trotters and sell a star-studded yearling consignment in Kentucky each fall. This past year their first major yearling consignment included Jimdougie Armitage, who at $750,000 was the highest priced yearling colt sold this year. The colt’s name is a combination of Jim McLane’s and my names. He was purchased by Ake Svanstedt. We will all be following his progress with great interest and enthusiasm.”
As I understand it, your racing involvement is two pronged?
“I suppose you could describe it as such. There is the M And L branch and the Armitage branch. The M And L horses are those that we purchased as yearlings to race. They consist of trotters and pacers, colts and fillies. The Armitage horses are all trotting fillies bought with a view of them eventually entering their broodmare band to raise select sale yearlings. They race under my name and management until they become ready for matronhood when they become part of the Armitage broodmare band. We have three trainers. John Butenschoen has trained horses for our family for near 40 years. He has several for us. Bruce Saunders has mostly our horses older than 2. This is the third year, where we also have a few with Linda Toscano.”
You and the Armitage folks made a big splash at Harrisburg acquiring several prominent broodmares and broodmare candidates for their impressive band of trotting broodmares.
“Jim and Rita’s goal is to raise the finest group of trotting yearlings in all of the sport. In a very short period of time, they have made serious inroads towards this goal. They are not there yet, but they are not all that far away. This year’s Harrisburg Mixed Sale catalog included the greatest group of both proven producing and young royally-bred mares who are, in my opinion, destined to become the great producers of the future. Jim understood that such mares do not come cheap, but he was still very prepared to go after them. If he wasn’t able to get them, someone else would have to pay a pretty penny to have them among their broodmares.
“The two royal jewels in our estimate were the fillies Kadena and Date Night Hanover. We ended up spending more than we guessed we would have to pay, but we bought them both. Kadena at $1,200,000 and Date Night Hanover at $985,000. They were both expensive, as mares of such exceptional quality should be. We probably bid as much as we were going to bid on either one. The thought was yes, they were expensive, but where and when are you going to find any other mares of equal quality? Nowhere and possibly never, that’s where.”
Before too long, you will be mapping out the future in terms for consorts for these as well as all the other mares in the Armitage broodmare band. How will that work?
“Dale Holly, Tim Hayes and myself will get together and kick around our thoughts. Armitage has a bank of stallion bookings to which we are entitled. They include breeding rights to most of the prominent and popular of today’s trotting stallions. It is very much a joint effort where we can all voice our opinions. With some mares I am certain there will be unanimity, with others we might have differing views. Dale being a thoroughbred man has picked up a remarkable amount of knowledge in his short time in the sport. Tim has spent all of his working life in it. We have all pretty much decided that Kadena will be going to Captain Corey. I’m guessing that we might possibly be doing the same with Date Night Hanover, although a date with Muscle Hill while he is still around and working is intriguing and would make sense. I consider myself quite fortunate to be able to in effect guide my own ship with M And L and to be involved with the destiny of the enterprise that I truly believe is going to become perhaps the world’s greatest trotting breeder with Armitage.”
