Always Bstunning N dazzled her connections with her work at Plainridge Park last season, with the female pacer even beating an Open field of male rivals that included several winners of multiple Grand Circuit stakes.

Now, Always Bstunning N will get her own opportunity on the Grand Circuit. The seven-year-old New Zealand import, who debuted in the United States this past spring and won 11 stateside starts, was among 26 pacing mares entered in Friday’s first round of the MGM Ursula McIntyre Series (formerly the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series) at MGM Yonkers Raceway.

Tim Tetrick will drive Always Bstunning N for trainer Gretchen Athearn and owner Richard Poillucci. She will leave from post six, in a field of six, in the second of four $50,000 USD opening-round McIntyre Series divisions. The daughter of Always B Miki-Simply Stunning is 7-2 on the morning line.

“After her performance last year, we decided that we had to at least give her a shot against some of the better mares,” said Athearn. “It might not work, but we’re at least going to give her a fair shake. She’s given us no reason not to.

“I’ve never had a horse like this in my entire life. It’s still sort of like a ‘pinch-me’ moment with her, like is this really real? There are no words for her. She’s just purely amazing.”

Always Bstunning N raced twice in New Zealand in January 2025, winning once, before heading to the U.S. for owner Poillucci. Her first start for Athearn was on May 6 at Massachusetts’ Plainridge Park, where she made an early break and ended up being fifth-placed-sixth. From that point on, she did little wrong, finishing off the board only once in 18 races, with 11 victories, five seconds and a third while competing mostly in the Fillies & Mares Opens at Plainridge with regular driver Kevin Switzer Jr.

Her final two races last year, though, were against the boys in the Opens at Plainridge. She finished second in her first attempt on Nov. 17, then a week later posted a 1:51.1 triumph to bring her campaign to an end. That field also featured multiple Grand Circuit winners Rocknroll Runa A (including the 2024 Sam McKee Memorial), Binge On Yankee (including the 2025 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial) and Its Saturday Night.

“Rich had promised me that he was going to buy me an Open mare for about a year,” said Athearn. “So, he took a long time looking at horses before he bought her. When he did buy her, this is what she was supposed to be, but none of us – including Rich – thought she was going to be this good.

“To be honest, I hate to say this, but I’m not sure she’s reached her potential yet. She never gets tired. She comes back after a race and she’s not even blowing. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but she’s been … stunning.”

Always Bstunning N, who has won 18 of 60 lifetime races and earned just over $300,000, paced a career-best 1:49.3 mile on Aug. 14 at Plainridge, when she beat a field of mares that included two 2025 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series finalists – Talk Curdy To Me (third in the Matchmaker final) and Turn The Page N (fifth). She prepped for her start in this year’s McIntyre Series opener by winning a qualifier on Yonkers’ half-mile oval in 1:55.4, with a back half in :56.1 and a :27.4 kicker, on March 13 with Jordan Stratton in the sulky. She was second in a :30 opening quarter before moving to the front and controlling the tempo from there.

“It was unbelievably windy that day and she was absolutely fabulous,” said Athearn. “They went :30 to the quarter and I thought Jordan was going to run over [the horse on the lead], so he had to pull her. When she gets on the front, she’s very lazy. She just sits there and waits and waits. But when the race was over, Jordan couldn’t pull her up in front of us by the paddock because she wouldn’t let the [second-place] horse by her.

“I find that I like her racing from off the pace better because she loves a target. She loves to chase a horse down. She doesn’t really look like much, my husband [Mark] described her as a ‘deer’ the other day and she does look like a deer. She’s not a great big mare; she’s sleek looking. But she loves her job.”

The Maine-based Athearn, who trains on the half-mile track at Cumberland, noted that taking off a week following the qualifier was part of the plan to prep for the McIntyre, which features five preliminary rounds through April 24 followed by the $200,000 USD (added) final and $100,000 USD (guaranteed) consolation on May 8.

“We didn’t race her right back because our ship is five hours,” said Athearn. “We wanted to qualifier her and then give her a week and then take her down six weeks in a row. We qualified her early for that reason.”

Poillucci is no stranger to success in the mares’ pacing series at Yonkers. His Shartin N, the 2019 Dan Patch Horse of the Year, won the Matchmaker Series in 2018 and 2019. She is the only two-time winner of the event.

Athearn is looking forward to seeing how Always Bstunning N fares in this year’s series.

“I was just thinking about how fast my heart is going to be beating when I send her out to race,” Athearn said with a laugh. “But she does everything you ask of her. She’s not your typical snippy mare at all. She’s a happy horse and does nothing wrong. She’s a horse that everybody could like.”

Racing begins at 6:45 p.m. at Yonkers. For a free race day program for Friday's card courtesy the Standardbred Owners Association of New York, click here.

(USTA)