Eight millionaires are slated to take part in the Grade 2 Matron Stakes for three-year-olds at Bally's Dover on Thursday, Nov. 12, with a quartet of them headlining the $124,800 USD Hap Hansen Matron for sophomore male pacers.
The Hap Hansen, carded as the 12th race on a 15-race program, will include Al Papi, Melillo, Odds On Mr Mamba and Fragment all looking to build on their already stout bankrolls.
Al Papi, the 5-2 morning line favourite, enters off a game first-over victory in the Grade 2 Monument Circle at Harrah's Hoosier Park following his second-place finish to Brandon Blvd in the Grade 1 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Regular driver Yannick Gingras will pilot the Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy colt, who has won 10 races and earned $2,216,834 lifetime, from post two.
Al Papi is one of four Ron Burke trainees in the Hap Hansen, along with Melillo, whose eight wins include the Grade 2 Carl Milstein Memorial and this year's Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship. A winner of $1,770,955, the Sweet Lou-Rosemary Rose colt will start from post four as the 7-2 morning line second choice with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. at the lines.
The other two seven-figure earners in the field are Grade 1 Pepsi North America Cup winner Odds On Mr Mamba ($1,396,851), whom Dexter Dunn will drive from post five for trainer Melanie Wrenn, and Messenger Stakes and two-time New York Sire Stakes champ Fragment ($1,641,159), whom Jason Bartlett will drive from post eight for trainer Petter Engblom.
Breeders Crown winner Diabolic Hill will look for his fourth consecutive win in the $124,200 USD Matron for three-year-old male trotters, carded as race 10. The Muscle Hill-Crysti Dream colt has been installed the 5-2 morning line favourite on the strength of his lifetime-best 1:50.4 win in the Breeders Crown, and Todd McCarthy will once again drive the earner of $1,508,448 for trainer Annie Stoebe.
Among his top rivals are another millionaire, New York Sire Stakes champ AI ($1,077,186), who will make his debut for trainer Marcus Melander with Dexter Dunn driving the 7-2 shot from post six, and the Noel Daley trainee Minoan (Andy McCarthy, post seven, 9-2), who finished third in the Grade 1 Hambletonian.
Storybook Love will look to add to her million-dollar bankroll in the $171,400 USD Matron for three-year-old trotting fillies. Listed as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line from the outside post eight, the O'Brien Award-winning Chapter Seven-Stirling debutant filly will have regular reinsman Todd Ratchford in the driver's seat for trainer Matt Bax. A former Breeders Crown champion and career winner of $1,113,223, she was a Grade 3 Simcoe Stakes winner and finished second in the Grade 1 Elegantimage Stakes this year.
New Jersey Classic winner Custom, driven by Jason Bartlett and trained by Peter Engblom, is the 5-2 morning line favourite from post four while Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Little Road (Brady Brown, post seven, 7-2) is another top contender for trainer Roger Hammer.
Jugette winner Loua Dipa rounds out the millionaire Matron starters, installed as the 5-2 morning line choice in the $103,000 USD event for sophomore pacing fillies, carded as race eight. The Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper filly has won 16 of her 26 career starts on her way to $1,875,024 in earnings to date, and Wrenn will again drive her for trainer Ron Burke from post two after they teamed up for a 1:49 win in the Grade 3 USS Indianapolis at Harrah's Hoosier Park.
Jugette runner-up Darlins Angel (Lauren Tritton, post five, 7-2), trained by Juan Cano, and Adioo Volo and New Jersey Classic winner Be Perfect BG (Louis-Philippe Roy, post six, 9-2), trained by Anthony Beaton, are among the other main contenders.
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.
(Bally's Dover & Standardbred Canada; photo of Al Papi and Melillo finishing first and second in the Monument Circle)