Annie Stoebe never doubted Diabolic Hill, and after watching him capture the Grade 1 Breeders Crown for thre-year-old male trotters last month at Eldorado Scioto Downs, the colt’s trainer and co-owner had one word to describe the outcome.

“Validating,” said Stoebe. “That would be a big word for me when it comes to this. It’s just validating. I did it, my horse did it, my team did it; we have our Crown. He deserved it.”

Diabolic Hill’s crowning moment came 12 weeks after his season’s most disappointing result, when he finished eighth in his Hambletonian Stakes elimination on Aug. 1 at The Meadowlands and failed to advance to the million-dollar Grade 1 final. But Diabolic Hill, who this year had three second-place finishes and one third-place finish in his four starts heading to the Hambletonian, was put on Lasix thereafter and rebounded.

“'Diabolic' was the first colt I ever trained, and our biggest goal was the Hambo,” said Stoebe. “That was one of the hardest weeks of my life. It was hard to even race on Hambletonian Day. But I still showed up and still did everything, and then I just poured all my energy and focus into the Crown.

“It took a while for us to [make a] diagnosis, but once we found out he was bleeding, he turned right around. I always knew the horse was a champion. I never lost faith in him. It was great to get it figured out; we were able to focus on the solution instead of the problem. It ended up paying off.”

In his first race on Lasix, Diabolic Hill finished second in the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial (Grade 2) at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, missing by a neck against Inexpressable. Next, he was third in his elimination for the New Jersey Classic and then a locked-in seventh in the final, beaten by only 2-1/2 lengths.

The son of Muscle Hill-Crysti Dream has not lost since.

He grabbed his first victory of the season in a conditioned race at Harrah’s Philadelphia, then won his Breeders Crown elimination by a quarter-length over Hambletonian champ Apex in 1:51.2 and the final by one length over Kentucky Futurity winner Nix Nacken in a career-best 1:50.4.

“It was so surreal,” Stoebe said about winning the Breeders Crown. “I had a rough year this year. For me, it just showed that at the end of the day, hard work does eventually pay off, and I was able to finally take a big, deep breath.”

On Thursday night, Nov. 12, Diabolic Hill will look to extend his winning streak to four as he closes out his campaign in the $124,200 USD Matron Stakes (Grade 2) for sophomore male trotters at Bally’s Dover. He will leave from post five with regular driver Todd McCarthy and is the 5-2 morning line favourite.

“He’s just feeling so good and so strong, I figured why not finish the year off on a good note and be ready for next year,” said Stoebe.

As the winner of the Breeders Crown, Diabolic Hill was invited to compete against older rivals in the $300,000 USD FanDuel Championship Open Trot (Grade 1) this Saturday at The Meadowlands – a race that includes four-year-olds On To Norway and Super Chapter, who are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the sport’s Top 10 poll.

Stoebe, who owns Diabolic Hill with Florida's Mario Mazza and AC Crawford Racing Stable, considered racing in the FanDuel, but the group decided the Matron was the better option.

“If we weren’t planning to bring him back at [age] four, we probably would have taken a shot in the FanDuel,” said Stoebe. “But I think a horse’s mentality is so important, and I would rather race him against other three-year-olds finishing the year strong because we’re bringing him back next year. I want him to come back being the big dog.

“I know On To Norway and Super Chapter are going to be slugging it out in the FanDuel. It’s Ali versus Tyson. I don’t want to be stuck in that boxing match. Do I think my little demon can give them a run for their money? Absolutely. I just don’t want to do that right now.”

For his career, Diabolic Hill has won eight of 21 races, including the Valley Victory Stakes (Grade 1) in his final start of 2025. He has hit the board on nine other occasions and earned $1.5 million lifetime. And while the plan is for him to return to action in 2027, Stoebe recently revealed that her millionaire trotting mare Elista Hanover was retired and held a farewell party in her honour.

The Matron for three-year-old male trotters is one of four Grade 2 Matron Stakes for sophomores on Thursday’s card at Dover Downs. Al Papi is the 5-2 morning-line favourite in the event for male pacers, Loua Dipa is the 5-2 choice in the event for filly pacers and Custom gets the 5-2 nod in the race for filly trotters.

The complete fields for Thursday’s Matron Stakes for three-year-olds, with post positions, drivers, trainers and morning line odds are listed below.

$171,400 USD Matron Stakes Three-Year-Old Filly Trot (Grade 2) - Race 6
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Chestnut Kelly - Tim Tetrick - Scott DiDomenico - 12-1
2. Julie Palema - Andy Miller - Julie Miller - 8-1
3. Ginger Tree Lex - Andy McCarthy - Sam Beegle - 10-1
4. Custom - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom - 5-2
5. R Ro - Todd McCarthy - John Butenschoen - 6-1
6. Who Dares Wins - Åke Svanstedt - Åke Svanstedt - 12-1
7. Little Road - Brady Brown - Roger Hammer - 7-2
8. Storybook Love - Todd Ratchford - Matthew Bax - 9-2

$103,000 USD Matron Stakes Three-Year-Old Filly Pace (Grade 2) - Race 8
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Two Twenty Swift - Jason Bartlett - Deborah Daguet - 10-1
2. Loua Dipa - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 5-2
3. Say Goodnight - Tim Tetrick - Nicholas DeVita - 8-1
4. Liberty Style - Art Stafford Jr. - Andrew Stafford - 12-1
5. Darlins Angel - Lauren Tritton - Juan Cano - 7-2
6. Be Perfect BG - Louis-Philippe Roy - Tony Beaton - 9-2
7. Existential - Dexter Dunn - Scott DiDomenico - 12-1
8. Shes A Bulldog - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 6-1

$124,200 USD Matron Stakes Three-Year-Old Male Trot (Grade 2) - Race 10
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Highball Hanover - Brandon Givens - Wayne Givens - 12-1
2. Captain Jordan - Tim Tetrick - Scott DiDomenico - 8-1
3. Kingmen - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom - 12-1
4. Jim Beam - Yannick Gingras - Scott DiDomenico - 6-1
5. Diabolic Hill - Todd McCarthy - Annie Stoebe - 5-2
6. AI - Dexter Dunn - Marcus Melander - 7-2
7. Minoan - Andy McCarthy - Noel Daley - 9-2
8. Yankee Boost - Louis-Philippe Roy - Tom Shay - 10-1

$124,800 USD Hap Hanson Matron Stakes Three-Year-Old Male Pace (Grade 2) - Race 12
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Watch Em Win - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 12-1
2. Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 5-2
3. Toast Of The Town - Louis-Philippe Roy - Noel Daley - 12-1
4. Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 7-2
5. Odds On Mr Mamba - Dexter Dunn - Melanie Wrenn - 6-1
6. Callmebigpapi - Todd McCarthy - Ron Burke - 10-1
7. Gentlemans Club - Andy McCarthy - Aaron Lambert - 9-2
8. Fragment - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom - 8-1

First post for the Thursday card at Dover, which also includes three $20,000 USD second-round splits of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders’ Fund series for two-year-old male pacers and a $27,500 USD Blue Hen Open Handicap Pace, is 4:30 p.m. (EST).

(USTA)