Giving Back through the Backstretch and a Quarter Pole

The quarter pole is an important marker for all horses who compete at Saratoga Race Course. Not only does the quarter pole set up the last stage of the race, it is also a reminder for the horse and jockey that there is 440 yards to the finish, especially if it is that horse’s last race before retirement.

Mary Lou Doyle knows the importance of that as she shares her experiences of being an owner, breeder, and even a co-creator of her latest venture in making miniature quarter poles through her personalized backstretch tours.

Most mornings, Doyle gives people – both in and outside of Saratoga Springs – an opportunity to learn about the backstretch by introducing them to an experience most have never had.

“I started doing tours more because I met too many owners who didn’t know where the test barn was or had never seen the walking path to the paddock,” she said. “Then I met people who had never seen a horse up close, but they were huge racing fans. That was a disconnect to me, and I wanted to close that gap.”

For about an hour, the Saratoga Springs native gives her guests aspects of the track that many people do not see during the day, whether it is the pathway that each horse takes from the stable to the paddock for a race, watching the race around the three-eighths pole where people can hear the jockeys encouraging their horses and the thunderous sounds of the hooves on the track, or driving past barns to view horses such as Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty, who is the strong favorite in Saturday’s Travers Stakes.

Doyle also introduces any jockey who has ridden for her, if they are available: Javier Castellano, Kendrick Carmouche, and Irad Ortiz, to name a few. Her guests see how the jockeys are part of the backstretch, too.

“They ride their own golf carts or with their agents and they understand the PR value of their brand,” she said. “Most are super friendly anyway and always stop for a quick hello and photo.”

Doyle’s guests also get to meet many trainers who know her or have trained her horses, including those through partnerships. The first trainer who welcomed one of her first tours years ago was H. James Bond and his wife Tina.

“A new CEO was in town for almost a year and hadn’t been to the track yet and hadn’t even thought about the backstretch,” she said. “They were so impressed when the Bonds invited them to see their barns, they whispered, ‘If I ever buy a horse, those are the kind of people I want to train it!”

Doyle emphasizes the need for trainers who are ambassadors for new or potential owners and first-time “backstretchers.” Other trainers who are part of Doyle’s tour include Carlos Martin, Michelle Nevin, Tom Morley, and fellow Saratoga native Jen Paragallo.

As part of the tour, many guests are surprised by all that goes on behind the scenes. They offer to pay Doyle, but she does not accept any payment. Though, she does ask them if they would make a donation to Thoroughbred aftercare or the Double H Ranch.

“We donate a lot,” Doyle said. “We give a percentage to aftercare. It has been important to us since we first started buying horses. You have to be thinking about it when you buy a horse.”

Along with aftercare, Doyle believes in the importance of a trainer managing a smaller stable for her horses. She appreciates Nevinis giving individualized attention and care to her horses. In return, Doyle gives back to many backstretch workers, including security, by making breakfast treats such as blueberry and banana muffins, as well as a French toast bake.

“I’m really supportive of small stables,” Doyle said. “I really stand up for them because they’ve great horses, and we need those opportunities in races. They’ve got the time for them and they’re hands on, literally.

“We try to bake about 100 mini-muffins every week and hand them out to grooms I see on the tour,” she added. “Some I know, some I don’t. But anyone who waves with a smile to my guests, they get muffins as a thank you.”

The backstretch tours evolved from Doyle’s car tours at the MacMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds Farm, where she has stabled and bred her horses over the past eight years, including one of her mares being mated to her favorite horse Bucchero, the sire of Book’em Danno, who is competing in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego; her other mare bred to Grade 1 winner Americanrevolution.

With the guidance and support from founders Joe and Anne McMahon, as well as general manager John McMahon, and marketing, sales, and office manager Jane McMahon, Doyle gave well-informed tours at the farm.

“They have been so open to me going there, and I had a lot of questions,” Doyle said. “The relationship with them has been fantastic, and they’re great for learning about horses. I learned about aftercare from the McMahons. They take back any horse sold and give it a forever pasture. They’re the gold standard.”

Since her home was not far from the Saratoga Race Course, Doyle entertained the idea of bringing small groups to the backstretch, especially since she felt the responsibility as an owner to share that experience.

“It was just very important to me that people see the backstretch,” she said. “Because when I was a kid, you could ride your bike through here. It was all open to the public. So when it started closing, I felt a responsibility as a horse owner to be sharing this with people who could see what’s back here.”

As a second-generation Saratogian with a link to Major League Baseball (her grandfather, Judd Bruce “Slow Joe” Doyle, pitched from 1906 to 1910 for the New York Highlanders and Cincinnati Reds), Mary Lou Doyle and her family had an indirect connection to horse racing.

Along with selling hot dogs before becoming a supervisor for Harry M. Stevens, Inc. at Saratoga Race Course, she was also a babysitter for several jockeys and trainers during the late 1970s, which helped pay for her Western riding lessons. At 14, she got to meet Marylou Whitney and enjoyed sharing a conversation with her.

Doyle and family also had two Hollywood stars rent their house for the week during the Fasig-Tipton sales in 1980: Jack Klugman and John Forsythe.

While Doyle and her family spent the week at a camp in Lake George, Klugman and Forsythe attended the four-day event. When Doyle and her family came home, they found steaks in the freezer that Klugman and Forsythe left, and the ability to have central air conditioning in the house.

“We were so happy to have steaks. We were just so excited and they were so nice,” Doyle said. “When our house was built in 1970, there was no central air conditioning. Basically, Klugman and Forsythe paid for our central air conditioning.”

As Doyle got older, she wanted to leave the Saratoga Springs area. After graduating from Hudson Valley Community College in 1983, she went to Philadelphia and worked full-time while going to Temple University during the evening for a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

For decades, she worked in communications, marketing, and government relations. She also worked as a lobbyist, and worked for two governors and two presidents, demonstrating a unique ability to connect people at a high level on issues. 

Traveling back and forth for years from Chester County, Pennsylvania to Saratoga Springs, she got the call to come back home. She bought her parent’s retirement home after her father’s passing and developed a five-year plan to come back to Saratoga – for good.

“All the old timers told me I had to come back,” she said. “I didn’t get it, but now that I’m here, I get it.”

Doyle’s husband James, who recently retired as vice president of Penske Corporation, is the detailed woodworker behind the quarter poles.

“He’s meticulous,” Doyle said. “You know the quality immediately, from the craftsmanship to the anodized gold ball on top. Saratoga Quarter Poles is our business name.”

The quarter poles come in two sizes: 16 inches and 5 feet. When they started in September, the first orders were shipped throughout the country within 30 days. Since then, the quarter poles have gained interest – including at the international level from Japan and Australia – especially during the holiday season.

“I had a line out my door on Christmas Eve with people wanting it for Christmas presents. Then I was shipping it,” she said. “It just exploded. It’s great. It’s been really fun. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Nobody’s ever done it before.”

Nobody has done the quarter poles before in America, especially since they are made in Saratoga Springs.