Virginia Breeders Stakes eliminations for three-year-old pacers and trotters kicked off this past weekend at Shenandoah Downs, marking the first time the series has ever been held in spring. Trotters took centre stage on Saturday, May 24 while pacers battled on Sunday, May 26 in gorgeous spring weather conditions.
The fastest mile on Sunday was authored by Jane Dunavant's homebred Proper Lady (pictured above) in the first $10,958 elimination for filly pacers in 1:54.4. The wire-to-wire effort was led by driver Cody Poliseno, who helped shave one and three-fifths of a second off the Proper Respect-sSidney filly's prior best time. The Carlo Poliseno trainee won for the third time in her career, spanning 13 races. Caviart Acadia finished second and Alexandrias Dream took third.
Elwood Tignor & Debbie Mulligan's Toys Little Tinker prevailed in the second elimination for filly pacers in 1:55 after passing Virginia Breeders Stakes two-year-old champion KJ Becky in the stretch. The daughter of Rustys For Real-Cool Toy was guided smartly to victory by William Carter, who left to compete in Ocean Downs' opening night card immediately after the victory. KJ Becky finished second, one length back, and Caviart Lyra took third.
In the pacing colt and gelding division, Lucky Lilly Belle Stable's Brooksforreal won his 13th straight race in wire-to-wire fashion though he had to fend off a pesky Caviart Cash at the finish. The heavily favoured Rustys For Real-Brooks Range gelding maintained a 1-1/4-length cushion over the second-place finisher throughout most of the mile but driver Archie Buford nearly urged Caviart Cash to an upset, coming up a quarter of a length shy. Brooksforreal crossed the wire in 1:56.2 with Fern Paquet Jr. in the bike for trainer Stacey McLenaghan. Mr Big Check finished third.
Trainer Britney Dillon's Paxamillion dominated the other pacing colt and gelding elimination in 1:55, finishing 6-1/4 lengths the best. The Sweet Lou-The Signature gelding was driven by Tyler Shehan for Dillon and co-owners William Hartt, Howard Taylor and Jamie Durnberger-Smith. Choices Honor finished second and Caviart Shetland took third.
In the Breeders Stakes action on Saturday, Scott Woogen's homebred K J Title passed stablemate K J The Thirteenth in the final turn and powered home to a 1-3/4-length triumph in the first filly trot elimination for trainer Gary Messenger. The daughter of E L Titan-Arent I Hanover crossed the wire in 1:58.3 with Eric Davis in the sulky. K J The Thirteenth stayed the course to finish second while Songmaster was third.
Caviart Farms' homebred Caviart Glory conducted an almost identical prep to the one she participated in last year as freshman, throttling the field by nearly 20 lengths. The Greenshoe-Gossip Hanover filly won by a 20-3/4-length margin last fall. Trainer/driver Philip Scott Sonsteby led the winning effort again, which mirrored the 1:59.4 clocking she authored in her two-year-old prep. Leon Twin Springs Mari was second and Peggys Girl finished third.
The colt and gelding trotters had one race, serving as a prep versus an elimination, and it was won by Cary Grady's HS Jesse in 2:00.1. The Gregory Pecs-Speedy Kim Mindale gelding finished second in both of last year's Breeders Stakes eliminations but broke stride in the final. On Saturday, driver/trainer Joseph Carroll took care of business in a gate-to-wire manner and got the best of runner-up Swervingmervin, the 2024 champ, by a half-length. Mane Man Charlie finished third.
A second round of Virginia Breeders Stakes elimination and prep races will be held next weekend at Shenandoah Downs with $90,000 USD (est.) finals slated for closing weekend on June 7 & 8.
(With files from Shenandoah Downs)