Why Not Now said the time was now in Wednesday's (Nov. 22) Progress Pace at Bally's Dover.
Frequenting the top three spots, the sophomore colt has only ever missed the board once in his 27 career starts. In his last three starts, the Dylan Davis student has landed in second each time by narrowing margins against his competition; however, on Wednesday, Why Not Now achieved the advantage of a one-length margin of victory in the final worth $260,000.
Andy McCarthy and Why Not Now got away fourth as the field rounded the first turn with El Rey (Dexter Dunn) leading the charge to an opening panel in :25.4. As El Rey continued onward to the half in :53.3, Why Not Now tipped first over to the outside. Why Not Now hit third from the outside as the three-quarters clocked 1:20.1. At the top of the stretch, Why Not Now achieved the lead. He faced the challenge of the pacesetting El Rey along with Moment Is Here (Tim Tetrick) and favoured Cannibal (Yannick Gingras) down the lane. However, the colt braved the pressure and kept going to win by a length in 1:48.2. Moment Is Here secured the second spot and El Rey rounded out the top three.
Both of the top two finishers, Why Not Now and Moment Is Here, were $25,000 supplemental entries into the Progress Pace.
Why Not Now (Always A Virgin-Star Of The Show) has demonstrated nine wins, seven seconds and two thirds in 18 starts during a breakout season. He moved his 2023 earnings total to $617,165 and career bankroll to $706,880. Howard Taylor, Dylan Davis and Jeffrey Billings co-own the winner, who equalled his career mark. He paid $7.80 to win.
Curtsyforpurrseco completes DSBF sweep
Jo Ann Looney-King's Curtsyforpurrseco completed a clean sweep of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders' Fund (DSBF) series for two-year-old pacing fillies at Bally's Dover with a dominant 1:56.1 score in the $110,000 Ramona Hubbard, conducted Wednesday evening.
Tim Tetrick floated the Roddys Bags Again-Purrfectly Bad filly into midfield from post eight while Bellas Dream (Tony Morgan) and Slipinsidewayz (Victor Kirby) disputed the lead through early splits of :27.3 and :56.2. Curtsyforpurrseco found her way into contention after flushing cover from Bad Nella Monella (Ross Wolfenden) up the backstretch and then vaulting off that cover to take the lead turning for home. She drew clear by 3-1/2 lengths for her fourth consecutive win and her sixth from 10 career starts. Smalltown Bad Girl (Dexter Dunn) rallied from last to edge Bad Nella Monella for second.
Jim King Jr. trains Curtsyforpurrseco, who has now earned $104,771. She paid $4.60 to win as the 6-5 favourite.
The win was one of five on the card for birthday boy Tetrick.
Novas Baby Girl ($5.20) emerged victorious in the $20,000 DSBF consolation, evading Grace O Malley by a length to win in 1:58.4. Martin Davis trains the Nova Artist-Occasionally Bad filly for owner-breeder-driver Eddie Davis.
(With files from Delaware Standardbred Breeders' Fund)