Despite an off track, Tipton Teeez and Valuable Art each matched Palm Beach’s stakes record in Tuesday’s $100,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series event at The Meadows.
The stake for freshman filly pacers was contested over five divisions, with Hailey Hanover, Albany Girl and Healthy Gain taking the other splits. Dave Palone enjoyed a stake double, behind Tipton Teeez and Albany Girl, among his three wins overall.
Although intermittent rain rendered the track sloppy for the early part of the program, the surface was upgraded to “good” for the splits of Tipton Teeez and Valuable Art, setting the stage for their 1:53.4 record-matchers. Palone let the dust settle before moving Tipton Teeez to the front at the quarter pole. The daughter of Western Terror-Finest Arts drew off thereafter and defeated Gingertreescarlett by seven lengths, with Q T Pie Hanover third. Brian Brown trains Tipton Teeez for Jennifer Brown and Richard Lombardo.
“She’s a typical Brian Brown horse -- well rigged, well mannered,” Palone said. “She was the easiest kind of winner. She won on cruise control. She made my job easy.”
Valuable Art appeared buried along the cones when a seam unexpectedly opened. Eric Goodell urged her through, and the daughter of Art-Official-Race Me Valerie ended up winning comfortably. Terror At Night was second, 3-1/4 lengths back, while early leader East Side Hanover earned show.
“We got lucky,” said Nick Callahan, the father of winning trainer Shaun Callahan as well as the co-breeder of Valuable Art. “The horse in front of us moved over, and we got through. Without that, we’re not getting much. She’s had some minor issues, and we changed her rigging to help her. I think she’ll learn how to be a nice horse.”
Breakaway Racing campaigns Valuable Art.
A five-race maiden entering the stake, Hailey Hanover slingshot to the lead down the backside —- despite being three wide -— and rolled home in 1:56.4 in the slop, four lengths better than Terror Grin, with Saucy Wench third. Mike Wilder drove for trainer Nifty Norman and owner David McDuffee.
“Her last start, she closed well but ran into a wall of horses and couldn’t get through. She might have been the best that day,” Wilder said of the well-bred daughter of Well Said and Hattie. “When I moved her today, she was serious. She was the real deal today.”
It was one of four wins for Wilder on the 15-race card.
Wednesday’s program at The Meadows features the Meadow Cheer, a $212,776 PA Sires Stake for two-year-old filly pacers. First post is 12:55 p.m.
(Meadows)