Trotting filly Mission Brief has been named the winner of the Secretary of Agriculture’s Trophy as New Jersey Standardbred of the Year for 2015.

Also selected New Jersey Sire Stakes Horse of the Year, Mission Brief will be honoured on January 24, 2016 at the 59th annual New Jersey Breeders Awards Luncheon at 1 p.m. at O’Connor’s Restaurant (formerly Charley’s Other Brother) in Eastampton, NJ.

Voted the nation’s Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year in 2014, Mission Brief also won the Dan Patch Award as Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year in 2015.

The daughter of Muscle Hill–Southwind Serena wrapped up her three-year-old campaign with 10 wins and three seconds in 14 starts, banking more than $1 million toward a career total of $1,599,587 for the ownership of the Burke Racing Stable, Our Horse Cents Stables, J&T Silva Stables and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The Ron Burke trainee was regularly driven by Yannick Gingras.

Undefeated in her New Jersey Sire Stakes competition, including the $100,000 final at the Meadowlands Racetrack, she also won the $307,040 Elegantimage at Mohawk Racetrack, the $185,000 Zweig at Vernon Downs, the $187,400 Matron at Dover Downs, the $144,000 Continentalvictory at the Meadowlands and the $174,000 Money Maker at the Meadows.

She made a bid to best the boys in the $1 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands. She won her Hambo elimination, but finishing second to Pinkman in the $1 million final on August 8.

Bred by Steve H. Stewart, Black Creek Farm and Andrea Lea Racing Stables Inc., Mission Brief sold for $150,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale.

At two, she won both the Merrie Annabelle and Breeders Crown, for nine wins in 13 starts and earnings just shy of $600,000.

She collected 150 of 156 votes for freshman honors in 2014, and 118 of 136 votes for 2015 divisional honours.

Her 1:50.3 mark still stands as the fastest mile by a two-year-old trotter, male or female, and she lowered her personal best to 1:50.2 on November 12, 2015 on the five-eighths mile track at Dover Downs in the Matron final.

Her sire, Muscle Hill, was the 2009 New Jersey Standardbred of the Year.

Tickets for the luncheon cost $40 per person and may be purchased from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Markets & Development, Horse Industry, PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ 08625. For further information, call 609-984-4389 or email [email protected]

(SBOANJ)