Talk Curdy To Me needed a win in the last preliminary round of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series to qualify for the final and the five-year-old mare delivered. Now, she will attempt to cash in on that performance in the Grade 1 final, which goes for a purse of $490,000 USD at MGM Yonkers Raceway on Friday, May 9.
The Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, for older female pacers, consists of five preliminary legs. Talk Curdy To Me, trained by Jeff Cullipher and driven throughout the event by Todd McCarthy, had a second and a third in addition to her victory during her five starts in the series. She also had a fifth in a race where the top five finishers were separated by only three-quarters of a length.
“She’s just a solid, professional mare,” said owner Tom Pollack. “Kind of blue collar. She’s not flashy, she just kind of grinds it out. She had a real good year last year and we’ve certainly been happy with her in this series.
“We needed to win the last leg to get in the final and Todd did a great job pulling her first up and got the job done. She drew a pretty good post, so we’re hoping to get a slice of it.”
Talk Curdy To Me and McCarthy will leave from post three in the eight-horse field and are 12-1 on the morning line. Aardie B Miki N, who was unbeaten in her four Matchmaker prelims, drew post one and is the 6-5 morning line favourite. Rocket Deo, who brings a three-race win streak to the final, is the 5-2 second choice from post six. Walkin On Sunshine, with two wins and three seconds in the series, leaves from post two and is 4-1.
“Obviously, the favourite has been exceptional,” said Pollack. “[Walkin On Sunshine] has also been very good and Rocket Deo has been razor-sharp. It’s going to be interesting to see who tries to leave and what happens. We can get out of the gate OK and for sure hold position. I was just glad when the draw came out that we didn’t have [post] seven or eight.”
Talk Curdy To Me, a daughter of Betterthancheddar-Keepers Destiny, has hit the board in 43 of 59 career races, winning 16 and earning $511,681. She was purchased by Pollack Racing in October 2023 and has earned a paycheque in 33 of 37 starts since then.
Last season, Talk Curdy To Me had seven victories, including the Canadian Graduate Series final for pacing mares. She was third in the Clara Barton Pace behind Sylvia Hanover and Grace Hill.
“She’s the type that shows up every week and that’s evidenced by her statistics of how many times she’s on the board,” said Pollack. “She’s just a dependable horse.”
Pollack has seen his horses race in several previous Blue Chip Matchmaker finals, with his best finish of second coming in 2017 with Medusa. In 2021, Pollack’s Alexa Skye was the favourite in the final after winning all four of her prelims. She finished fourth, beaten a length, from post six.
“We’ve never won it, but we’ve had some fun in this series, at least,” said Pollack. “We’re looking forward to [the final]. We need a lot of stuff to happen to get there, but we’re hoping to get a piece of it anyway.”
The Blue Chip Matchmaker final is race seven on Yonkers’ 10-race card. Race eight is the $516,000 USD MGM Borgata Pacing Series final for older male pacers, also a Grade 1 event. The Matchmaker and Borgata are the first two Grade 1 harness racing events in North America under the graded stakes system that began this year.
Mossdale Ben N, who posted three wins and two seconds in the Borgata’s five preliminary rounds, will leave from post five in the final and is the 5-2 morning line favourite.
Racing begins at 6:45 p.m. at Yonkers. For free TrackMaster Platinum past performances, courtesy the Standardbred Owners Association of New York, click here.
(USTA)