Seven-year-old female pacer Handsoffmycookie, a multiple-stakes winner of more than $1.4 million, has been retired, trainer Scott DiDomenico said Thursday.
Handsoffmycookie was owned throughout her career by Joann Fucci’s JFE Enterprise LLC and trained by DiDomenico. She won 33 of 116 lifetime races and hit the board a total of 58 times. Her victories included the 2011 New York Sire Stakes championship for two-year-old filly pacers, the 2012 Lismore Pace, and 2013 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series Consolation.
In addition, in 2011 Handsoffmycookie finished second to Economy Terror in both the Breeders Crown and Three Diamonds and second to Pirouette Hanover in the Sweetheart Pace. All three races were won in either world- or stakes-record times. She also finished second to Romantic Moment in the 2012 New York Sire Stakes championship.
“She was a true warrior and probably my best friend throughout the whole time I trained her,” DiDomenico said. “Our biggest thrills with her were probably her whole two-year-old year. She raced well every time and took us to a lot of levels we never anticipated with her.”
Handsoffmycookie is a daughter of stallion Art Major out of the unraced Cambest mare Observe Me. She was purchased under the name Winbak Artzy Gal for $25,000 at the 2010 Standardbred Horse Sale. She was one of the first ventures into the yearling market by DiDomenico and Fucci.
As for the horse’s name change, Fucci once said there was no particular significance, other than a love of cookies.
“We were just playing around with some names,” Fucci said. “I had a bunch of different variations with the word ‘cookie’ and it just came to me. Everybody loves the name. Who doesn’t love cookies?”
DiDomenico said the plan is for Handsoffmycookie to go to Majestic View Farms in Gardiner, N.Y., and be bred to stallion American Ideal.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.