Following a narrow defeat in the Breeders Crown, Southwind Gendry bounced back with authority and posted a 1:50 win in Thursday’s $193,000 Matron Stakes for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings at Dover Downs and capping a sweep of the Matrons for rookie pacers for trainer Ron Burke.
The son of Always B Miki-Gamblers Passion was caught wide in midfield after leaving from the outside post seven, but bided his time while Bayfield Beach (Andy McCarthy) controlled fast early splits of :26.1 and :54.2. Up the backstretch, Southwind Gendry ascended first-over to force a :27.2 third quarter before taking the lead midway on the far turn.
After putting Bayfield Beach away, Southwind Gendry ($2.60) remained strong and edged clear to evade the second-over Southwind Petyr (Dexter Dunn) by 1-1/2 lengths. Bayfield Beach held third.
The 10-time winner increased his career earnings to $583,069 for the Burke Racing Stable, Phil Collura, Knox Services and Jandt Silva Purnel & Libb.
Burke also won the $170,000 Matron for two-year-old pacing fillies with Continualou ($3.20), who brushed aggressively to claim control of the terms with a circuit to go and threw down a :54.4 back half to evade her foes in a dynamic 1:50.2 performance.
David Miller floated the daughter of Sweet Lou-Continual Velocity into fifth on the first turn, waiting while Paulas Bet Hanover (Gingras) and Darby Hanover (Andy Miller) duelled through a :26.4 first quarter before storming to the fore at the bell. Once in charge, the 3-5 choice was never in doubt. She widened her lead steadily and ultimately defeated stablemate Paulas Bet Hanover by 5-3/4 lengths. Darby Hanover finished third.
Continualou, who finished fourth in last week’s Breeders Crown at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, has now won four times in her career and has banked $262,605 for the Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
In other Matron action:
$167,200 Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot
With the scratch of Magical Muscle Man reducing the field to four, Type A ($4.20) and Yannick Gingras had little trouble working to the lead from the outside post. They gained control over even-money favourite Incommunicado (Scott Zeron) through a :28.2 first quarter, travelled uncontested through a :58.3 middle half, and dug in late to withstand a late push from Incommunicado to win by a half length in 1:55. Ethan T Hanover (Tim Tetrick) finished third, another 1-1/2 lengths behind.
Trainer Nancy Takter co-owns Type A with Frank Canzone and Christina Takter. The son of Southwind Frank-Up Front Laura has won three of his eight career starts to date and has amassed $152,433.
$189,600 Two-Year-Old Filly Trot
Illuminata ($47.20) earned the second win of her young career with a pillar-to-post, 1:54.4 upset over seven foes in the Matron for rookie trotting fillies. Trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt sent the daughter of Chapter Seven and Traviata to the lead from post four, and she used a :27.2 first quarter to seat Frankly My Dear (David Miller) in the pocket. From there, they traveled one-two through a :58.4 middle half before Illuminata used a :28.3 sprint home to keep Frankly My Dear 1-1/4 lengths at bay. Pub Crawl (Andy Miller), who was sent off as the favourite, only mustered mild gains to take third after stalking the front flight throughout.
Tristan Sjöberg’s Knutsson Trotting Inc and Jeff Gural’s Little E LLC own Illuminata, whose career bankroll increased to $127,415.
The Matron Stakes for three-year-olds are scheduled for next Thursday at Dover Downs.
(USTA)