Hunter Oakes trainees topped a field of five two-year-old pacing colts and geldings in the $248,472 Matron Stakes, lead by supplemental entry Dandy Ideal, on Thursday evening, Nov. 14 at Dover Downs.
With Dandy Ideal winning in wire-to-wire fashion, driver Tim Tetrick completed a sweep of this year's two-year-old pacing divisions as he also guided the Nancy Takter-trained filly Faze to a Matron victory on Wednesday evening.
Here Tetrick fired Dandy Ideal from the outside post five and crossed in front of stablemate Thirsty Thursday, driven by Matt Kakaley. Dandy Ideal set fractions of :27.2, :56 and 1:23.3 en route to the 1-3/4-length victory in 1:50.3, equalling his lifetime mark. Knockout Round and Andy McCarthy held third behind the Oakes stablemates after a first-over bid down the backstretch.
Dandy Ideal made his debut from the Oakes stable a winning one after being acquired this week by Flying A Racing Stable, Thaddeus Wier and Alan Johnston. Coming off three straight wins in Pennsylvania before the private sale, he was supplemented to the Matron for $20,000 USD by his new connections.
The American Ideal-OK Heavenly gelding improved his career record to 5-2-1 in 10 starts while nearly tripling his bankroll, which now totals $189,917.
Dandy Ideal was the 3-5 favourite and paid $3.20 to win.
Dover's undercard included a pair of $27,778 divisions as the second leg of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund Stakes for two-year-old male pacers with first-round winners Won Last Call and Shore Not Beach returning to the winner's circle.
The first split, conducted as a non-wagering race, set up as a rematch between first-round winner Won Last Call and Harrington series champion Primo Maschio. In the first leg, Won Last Call recovered from an early bobble to post a 26-1 upset over Primo Maschio, and their second meeting had a similar dynamic from the start. Eight-time winner Primo Maschio and Trae Porter strolled through a :59.2 first half with Won Last Call and Montrell Teague stalking comfortably from the pocket. Primo Maschio picked up the pace on the backstretch, throwing down a :28.1 third quarter and trying to sprint free of his pocket foe, but Won Last Call emerged off the home turn and collared Primo Maschio by a half length in 1:55. Wyatt Earp, driven by Justin Irvine, finished third after stalking the top pair throughout the entire mile.
Joe Columbo trains Won Last Call, a Badlands Hanover-Im Won Shot Wiser gelding who competes as a homebred for George And Tina Dennis Racing and has earned $64,443 while going four-for-seven.
In the second division, TLB Racing's Shore Not Beach and driver Pat Berry sprinted clear from post five to lead Sting Ray, driven by Corey Callahan, and three other rivals through splits of :27.1, :55.4 and 1:24.3 before edging clear of his pocket rival around the final turn. The Badlands Hanover-Azure Deo gelding evaded a mild late rally from runner-up Lew Not Lou and Tim Tetrick by two lengths and reduced his lifetime mark to 1:54.1. Sting Ray faded to third, another 3-3/4 lengths behind.
Traci Berry trains Shore Not Beach, who is three-for-five and has now earned $85,211 in his career.
Sent off as the 1-2 favourite, he paid $3 to win.
In addition to preliminary winners Won Last Call and Shore Not Beach, the following horses have qualified for the $110,000 USD Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund championship, to be held on Nov. 21: Primo Maschio, Lew Not Lou, Wyatt Earp, Sting Ray, LL Royal Man and Our Perfect Aim.
In Thursday's $34,722 Open Handicap Pace, I Did It Myway and Tim Tetrick waited patiently along the pylons in the stretch and nosed out favourite Maximus Miki and George Napolitano Jr. at the wire in 1:49.2, paying $8.80 to win. Nick DeVita trains the millionaire son of Captaintreacherous-Flyme To The Moon for owners David Hamm, Evm Racing and Glenn Phillips.
Tetrick won six races on the 16-race betting card while DeVita had four training wins. Owners Hamm and Phillips recorded four owner wins.
Entries will be accepted on Monday, Nov. 18 for those eligible to the Progress Pace Preview/eliminations. The box closes at 11 a.m.
Dover hosts racing Monday through Thursday, with post time at 4:30 p.m.
(Standardbred Canada with files from Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund & Bally's Dover)