When Eric Foster’s teenage daughter Emmy christened one of the family’s homebred filly trotters Emmys Mayflower, Foster was not a fan of the name.

“I told her I wish she named her something besides that,” Foster said with a laugh. “I didn’t think that was a very good racehorse name, a winning name. I said, that’s not going to be a good horse.

“She said, you just wait and see.”

Emmys Mayflower, by Anders Bluestone out of Stirling Charisma, was born May 1, 2017. Emmy Foster’s 15th birthday was a day later. And in the ensuing time, the filly has rewarded Emmy’s convictions, almost as if a gift. She heads to Thursday’s $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) final for three-year-old trotting fillies at Dover Downs with eight wins in 13 starts and $128,224 in earnings.

“She’s got a mind of her own,” Foster said about Emmys Mayflower. “She can be a challenging filly. But once the gate opens, she’s a racehorse.”

Emmys Mayflower, driven regularly by Foster’s nephew Russell, finished 2019 with a three-race win streak that included a 1:56.2 victory in the $100,000 DSBF final at Dover. Foster staked the filly to several Grand Circuit events this year, but a bout with sickness following a third-place finish in the Harrington DSBF final on July 8 led to Emmys Mayflower spending four months away from the races.

“She really wasn’t sharp at Harrington,” Foster said. “We pulled her blood, and her blood was way off. She needed to have some time off. I wasn’t going to push her. I wanted to get her ready for this part of the season.”

Emmys Mayflower prepped for her return by winning a qualifier in 1:54.4 at Dover. She followed with victories in a conditioned race and two preliminary rounds of the DSBF. She starts Thursday’s final from post eight and is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

“It’s going to be a tough race,” said Foster, a Maryland resident who trains about a dozen horses and also works as an equine dental technician several days a month. “I’m glad I don’t have to drive her. There are good horses in there and they’ve all got a shot.”

Dover hosts four DSBF finals for three-year-olds on Thursday, with racing beginning at 4:30 p.m. (EST).

Air Time (with Art Stafford Jr. driving for trainer Carlo Poliseno) is the 5-2 favourite among the trotting males while Spinferno (Tim Tetrick-Chuck Crissman Jr.) is the 5-2 choice among pacing fillies and All About Lynx (Montrell Teague-Clyde Francis) is the 5-2 pick among pacing males.

(USTA)