Elista Hanover maintained her standing as the early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks on Aug. 3 with another powerhouse performance on Saturday night, July 20 at The Meadowlands, taking the first of three $42,192 divisions of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies.
After finishing third in her seasonal debut, which was at The Big M on March 22, the daughter of International Moni-Evermore has reeled off nine straight victories. On June 29, she won a division of the Reynolds at The Big M in a lifetime-best-equalling 1:52.3. The Annie Stoebe trainee has come back huge as a sophomore after a 2023 season during which she won just once from nine tries.
On Saturday, driver Dave Miller had Elista Hanover sitting fourth to the half before marching up towards leader St Pauli Girl at the five-eighths while first-over. 'Elista' still had two lengths to make up while third at three-quarters, which St Pauli Girl reached in 1:26.1, then seized the top at the head of the stretch before powering clear of her foes by 5-3/4 lengths at the wire in 1:53.1. Miss I La finished second with Kinesiology third.
"'Elista' never ceases to amaze me," said Stoebe, who co-owns the chestnut filly with R L Curry and Philomena Curry. "She is possibly the happiest horse I have ever trained. She does have more starts coming in than I would prefer, but quoting Dave [Miller], 'She just keeps getting stronger.' I couldn’t be more excited to go into the Oaks next week, especially with the confidence both 'Elista' and Dave have."
As the 1-5 favorite, Elista Hanover returned $2.40 to win while lifting her lifetime earnings to more than a quarter-million dollars.
In the second Tompkins-Geers split for females, Crawford Farms homebred Honeys Sweet rolled in 1:52.1 after making the lead before the half as the 3-5 favourite for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Tony Alagna. The daughter of Chapter Seven-Corazon Blue Chip hit the wire 2-1/4 lengths in front of runner-up Sambuca Hanover to earn her sixth career victory from 16 tries and push her earnings close to $250,000.
The third division was taken by Upallnight Hanover for Dexter Dunn and Ake Svanstedt in a lifetime-best 1:53.1. The daughter of Bar Hopping-Upfront Obs Janet raced in the four-hole to the half, went first-over heading to three-quarters while providing a live tow for even-money favourite Spy Coast but dug in to hold off that foe by a half-length at the finish as the 2-1 second choice, returning $6.40 to her backers. She’s now four-for-13 lifetime, good for earnings just shy of $170,000 for Journey Horses Inc.
The lone $105,069 Tompkins-Geers dash for three-year-old colts and geldings on the trot went to the Andy Miller-driven, Julie Miller-trained Secret Agent Man. Two weeks after a sparkling 1:50.3 front-end score, the gelded son of Chapter Seven-Feel The Magic won from off the pace after 6-5 favourite Bellas Musclehill went off stride while on the lead at the top of the stretch. Secret Agent Man was one-length better than French Kronos at the finish, which was timed in 1:52. He paid $7.20 to win as the 5-2 second choice for his third lifetime win in nine tries. The winner of nearly $73,000 is owned by Andy Miller Stable Inc., Plouffe Racing, Patrick Hoopes and Knutsson Trotting Inc.
Driver Carter Dalgety, a 21-year-old native of New Zealand who will be trying to make a go of it in North America for the next two months, scored his first Meadowlands win in his second try, winning the third race with Stonebridge Reef. The Chris Ryder trainee scored as the 9-2 third choice in a lifetime-best 1:48.4.
Gingras led the driver colony with three Saturday scores.
All-source handle on the 14-race card totalled $2,669,701 USD.
Racing resumes on Friday at 6:20 p.m., the first of the final four programs of the Championship Meet.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)