NO HORSING AROUND: SEABAUGH'S RACERS WIN BIG

As he looks out over a pasture where several mares and their foals are grazing, Dr. William Seabaugh's pride in the horses he raises is apparent.

As he shows off pictures of his winning thoroughbreds and tells stories of their lineage and victories, a visitor begins to appreciate Seabaugh's abilities as a breeder.

And when he rubs the nose of J.C. Pool, a beautiful brown stallion that comes to the corral fence to greet his owner, Seabaugh's love of horses shines in his eyes.

"I just love 'em," Seabaugh said as he patted his horse. "And I've been lucky to have raised some wonderful animals."

They are animals that have been earning winnings for the retired Cape Girardeau physician. J.C. Pool is one of a trio of Seabaugh's horses that won eight races in a row last spring in Illinois. J.C. Pool started the streak with a win April 3, then went on to win his next two races. From then until May 7, Seabaugh's Jeannie Light won three races in a row, and My Sister Kate won two consecutive races.

The streak earned Seabaugh an article in the Illinois Racing News, a publication of the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation.

The article's author, Jim Watkins, who raises horses himself, said winning eight races in a row is highly unusual.

"I can't remember it happening before," said Watkins, who has owned thoroughbreds for 12 years and been associated with thoroughbred racing since 1973. "It's tough just winning one race."

Since that winning streak, My Sister Kate and Jeannie Light have won three more races.

J.C. Pool, on the other hand, is on sick leave. The stallion began bleeding in his lungs during a race this summer, and Seabaugh has temporarily put the horse out to pasture within the white wooden fences at his Cape LaCroix Farm on Cape LaCroix Road.

"This happens to human runners, too, sometimes," Seabaugh said. "When he runs, he gives it everything he's got, and that can cause hemorrhaging."

Seabaugh takes care of his horses. That may result from his career as a physician. He practiced in Cape Girardeau for 50 years as a general surgeon and in general practice. Before his retirement in 1989, he said, he handled more than 16,000 major cases.

He raised horses while in practice, but he said his retirement means he has a lot more time to devote to his thoroughbreds and spend on his farm.

Seabaugh and his wife, Patricia, after raising their children on the farm, now live in Chateau Estates. But he uses the farm house, which sits just above a large pasture and just below a huge red barn, as his business office and a place to watch horse racing on the Internet.

Seabaugh grew up around saddle horses. He said he rode and showed five-gaited and three-gaited saddle horses all over the country.

But a trip to the Kentucky Derby in 1933 got Seabaugh hooked on thoroughbreds.

"With saddle horses you have a judge. It's kind of like a beauty contest. And I didn't always agree with the judges," Seabaugh said. "But with a race horse there's a wire and a photo finish, and you know who won."

Much of Seabaugh's success as a breeder can be traced to his buying of Little Hailey in 1980. He bought the mare, who had to be put to sleep last year, for $70,000 when she was a yearling. The horse went on to win more than $500,000 for Seabaugh and mothered a number of high-priced foals.

"I once turned down an offer of $850,000 for her," Seabaugh said.

The most successful horse Seabaugh owned brought him the closest he has been to having a horse in that pinnacle of thoroughbred racing, the Kentucky Derby.

Seabaugh shows a picture of Bold Second, who in 1987 was given 14-to-1 odds to win the Derby. But in a race prior to the Derby, Bold Second threw a shoe and injured his leg, Seabaugh said.

"He had a style of running that could have won the Derby," Seabaugh said as he swung his arms in imitation of the horse. It's been 12 years since Bold Second's last race, but Seabaugh still remembers that horse's particular gait.

The horses Seabaugh is running now aren't Derby material, he says. But My Sister Kate has won more than $100,000. "That's pretty good. It helps pay the feed bill," Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh's 30-acre farm is tiny compared to the 1,000-acre horse farms common in Kentucky.

"This is a small operation. We've been lucky to have good breeding, and it shows up," Seabaugh said.

Of the foals bred at his farm, he keeps just a few to run races. The rest are sold, many as jumpers or polo ponies.

While he doesn't have as many horses racing as some breeders, he does have a winning record worthy of envy.

His philosophy for raising good horses is simple: "You breed a good mare to a good stallion, you get a good foal. It's just that simple."