On Monday afternoon (Aug. 14) at Monticello Raceway, fans witnessed the fastest mile ever for a two-year-old trotter, regardless of sex, in the track’s storied 65-year history when filly Senorita Palema won her New York Sire Stakes division in 1:56.4. It was one of the most impressive and dominant scores in recent memory at the Mighty M.
The group of freshman trotting fillies were well-behaved, with the 10-race card featuring three $34,000+ divisions of Sire Stakes and four $20,000 Excelsior Series dashes.
The track record mile ocurred in race eight. The $35,200 final split of Sire Stakes was a six-horse contest. When the gate left, so did the favourite, Senorita Palema. Once on the lead, she never looked back, extending her margin at every panel.
She trotted the opening panel in a brisk :28.3 and had 3-1/4 lengths on the pack. The lead was 3-1/2 lengths at the half in :57.4. From there, it was an exhibition of awe. The next panel, she was up by six. She had nine lengths on her closest competitor at the top of the stretch and from there, she kicked in the afterburner and was on top by 14 lengths to win in a new divisional track record of 1:56.4.
Driver Mark MacDonald did an excellent job in refraining the filly from going faster as he controlled her tempo as much as possible. She was under wraps and still had plenty of trot in her.
Jeannies Action (Jordan Stratton) was second, followed by Karolina Solveig (Joe Bongiorno).
Trained by Ake Svanstedt, the noble gaited daughter of Chapter Seven-Tosca showed she was worth the hefty investment of $150,000 as a yearling acquisition for owner Bender Sweden Inc. In four starts, she now has two wins and two seconds on the NY Sire Stakes circuit, with seasonal earnings of $65,400.
The first race on Monday's card, worth $34,500, was a short field scratched down to four New York Sire Stakes fillies. Favourite Sadbirdstillsing (Tyler Buter) had the lead in the opening panel in :29.4 and set the tempo throughout. Seven Year Itch and Jordan Stratton were fourth and last at the half in a soft 1:00.3. Positions remained unchanged until the five-eighths marker, when Stratton went first-over. In the paddock turn, Seven Year itch was almost head-to-head with the leader. It was a horse race to the wire and took a photo to decide the tight finish, with Seven Year Itch ultimately taking home the win in 2:00.1. My Special T (Jeff Gregory) was third.
Seven Year Itch, a daughter of Chapter Seven-Royal Lady, is owned by trainer Vernon Beachy, Ryan Smith and Gitup Racing. She is now two-for-five to start her career.
The Ron Burke-trained Sister Mary Maude extended her win streak to five in the remaining $35,200 division, which went as race five. The daughter of Crazy Wow-Perfect Mass took the lead past the :29.2 opening stanza and never looked back for driver Joe Bongiorno, setting middle splits of :59.2 and 1:29.2 en route to a 1:58.3 victory. Star Attraction (Mark MacDonald) finished three lengths behind in second and Erin (Dan Daley) was third.
Sister Mary Maude collected her fourth Sire Stakes victory and is now five-for-six in her career for owners Burke Racing Stable, William Switala, James Martin and Weaver Bruscemi.
Tyler Buter doubled up in the Excelsior Series driving Dozen to a 2:00 victory for trainer Marcus Melander and Shiv to a 2:03.2 score for Mike Simons. The other division winners were Barn Dreamer in 2:02 for driver Jason Bartlett and trainer Steven Pratt, and Demin N Diamonds in 2:03 for trainer/driver Phil Fluet.
The 10-race card of predominantly two-year-old fillies garnered more than $514,000 in wagering with a per race average of $51,400.
The final Sire Stakes of the season at Monticello Raceway will take place on Monday, Aug. 28, when the two-year-old trotting colts bring down the curtain on the 2023 season. Post time will be 12:10 p.m.
(With files from Monticello Raceway)