Call Me Queen Be stalked the leader from the pocket, then poured through the Lightning Lane to score in 1:52.1, matching the stakes record in Friday’s $214,776 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes for freshman filly pacers at The Meadows.
The event, known as the Sand Tart, was contested over four divisions, with Ivy League, Pure Country and Shezarealdeal also taking splits. Brett Miller and Jimmy Takter teamed for a pair of stakes wins with Ivy League and Pure Country while Marcus Miller collected the other two Sand Tart victories.
Call Me Queen Be was handled conservatively in her only other start, finishing fourth without leaving the cones. Marcus Miller indicated he received some advice on the daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Preppy Party Girl from winning trainer Ross Croghan.
“Ross told me to keep her quiet and find her a spot close,” he said. “He thought she would be very good tonight. I don’t know if he meant 1:52.1. Maybe he saw it coming. When I pulled the plugs, she was looking for a spot out.”
Call Me Queen Be blew by the favourite, I Said Diamonds, in the stretch to defeat her by three-quarters of a length, with Sail To The Beach third. Her time is the fastest this year for a two-year-old pacing filly on a five-eighth-mile track. Let It Ride Stables and Dana Parham campaign Call Me Queen Be.
Ivy League is regally bred — by 2008 Horse of the Year Somebeachsomewhere, out of See You At Peelers, the 2011 Dan Patch Award winner for sophomore filly pacers. In the Sand Tart, she began to live up to her pedigree, rallying from last to score in 1:52.2. Danika P finished second, two lengths back, while Shesasmokinlady earned show.
Ivy League’s last start was in the PA Stallion Series, and Brett Miller said Takter had sound reasons for racing her in softer company.
“In her first start, the PA All-Stars, she got parked the mile,” he said. “Jimmy wanted to put her in where she could get brave again. That was the whole plan. At the half, when I was sitting last, I didn’t think she had a shot to win. But coming off the last turn, the way she took off, I knew she would.”
Christina Takter, Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld and John Fielding own Ivy League.
Pure Country remained undefeated in three career outings after Brett Miller was able to give her a big-time breather — :30.3 — the second quarter. She scorched the final panel in :26.4 and downed Yankee Moonshine by two and a half lengths. Corona Again completed the ticket.
“When the half flashed up, I thought she would be good,” Brett Miller said. “This filly has done everything right. She has a gait like an aged horse."
Diamond Creek Racing owns Pure Country, a daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Western Montana.
Monday’s card at The Meadows features a $60,000 PA Stallion Series stake for three-year-old filly trotters. First post is 12:55 PM.
(The Meadows)