Poof Shes Gone won the fastest of three Hambletonian Oaks elimination races on July 31 at Meadowlands Racetrack, beating Bar Slide by three-quarters of a length
in 1:53.1. Also winning elims were Boinga, in 1:54.4, and Springtime Volo, in 1:54.3. The $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks final is Saturday at the Meadowlands.
Last season, Poof Shes Gone won 10 of 12 races and earned $1.07 million on her way to the Dan Patch Award as harness racing’s best two-year-old filly trotter. This year, Poof Shes Gone has won four of eight races and banked $217,328. She won a division of the Casual Breeze Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack in June and was third in the Elegantimage two weeks later. She entered the Oaks off a second-place finish in the Canadian Breeders Championship.
“She was very good; she felt good (Saturday night),” driver David Miller said. “Her last start or so she hasn’t been that sharp, but she was much better. As soon as she got out, she took right off, and that’s usually her style.”
Springtime Volo won her elim by a half-length over Southwind Samurai. She has three wins in five races this year, including in a division of the Delvin Miller Memorial. She was second in the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship. Driven by George Brennan, she is trained by Jan Johnson, who has won a record five Oaks.
“She’s a good filly and she tries hard,” Johnson said. “We can pick (a post) so that was good. It’s a wide-open field; there are no real standouts. It all depends on the trip.”
Boinga went off at odds of 36-1 and won by a neck over Behindclosedoors. She has won five of eight races this year, including a sweep of the Windylane Hanover Series at the Meadowlands.
“She should be a little better off this (race),” driver Ron Pierce said. “I knew she was a nice filly, and with that kind of trip – right up the inside, squeeze out and split horses – I wasn’t surprised at all.”
The connections of elimination winners Boinga, Poof Shes Gone, and Springtime Volo will select their post positions for Saturday’s $750,000 final of the Hambletonian Oaks.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.