After finishing fifth on Hambletonian Day in the Dr. John R. Steele Memorial as the 6-5 favourite, Elista Hanover had lost some of the shine she had acquired after winning her prior two outings, the E.T. Gerry Jr. Hambletonian Maturity and Miss Versatility.
But after a brilliant performance on Friday, Aug. 29 in the inaugural $163,194 Girl Power for four-to-six-year-old trotting mares, Elista Hanover’s sparkle is back.
“It’s very exciting,” said winning trainer Annie Stoebe. “You know, she raced really hard those two starts, and I think she was just a little bit tired [in the Steele], so I took advantage of her schedule and gave her a week off, and she seemed to be very happy about that tonight.”
M Ms Dream (Yannick Gingras), who won the Steele for a third straight year, was away from the gate quickly from the rail in the seven-horse Girl Power field while 2-5 favourite Warrawee Michelle (Ake Svanstedt) raced in the pocket. Dave Miller used Elista Hanover early and worked his way into the three hole as M Ms Dream cut out fractions of :28.2 and :57.
Moving around the far turn, Warrawee Michelle vacated the pocket to go after the leader as Elista Hanover followed that move while M Ms Dream took them past three-quarters in 1:25. Closing from a tough spot, Elista Hanover tipped off cover, charged down the stretch in the three path, and got up on the wire to win by a neck over a determined M Ms Dream, who out-gamed third-place finisher Warrawee Michelle. The time for the mile was 1:52.2.
“I was laughing in the last turn because she was trying to tell Dave it was time to pull and I saw him fighting with her and I knew she was going to be ready in the stretch,” said Stoebe. “I tell you what, though, trying to catch [Warrawee Michelle] proved to be pretty tough, but she got the job done.”
Elista Hanover, a four-year-old daughter of International Moni-Evermore, returned $11 to win as the 9-2 third choice in the wagering. She has now won 16 of 36 lifetime starts and has earnings of $1,182,687 for owners R. Lynn and Philomena Curry and Stoebe.
Yo Tillie, the top-ranked three-year-old trotting filly in training, stayed perfect in seven seasonal starts after taking the first of two $34,722 eliminations of the New Jersey Classic for her division in 1:52. She slotted in third for Todd McCarthy through a first panel of :27.3, brushed to the top approaching the half in :56, and accelerated through three-quarters in 1:24.1. Walspea (Trond Smedshammer) led the cavalry charge down the stretch, but Yo Tillie glided home to victory by one length over the surging Champagne Problems (Dexter Dunn). Walspea finished third. As the 1-2 favorite, Yo Tillie returned $3 to win.
Yo Tillie, who broke the Pocono Downs track record for a sophomore trotting filly last out in the Delmonica Hanover, improved to 15-for-19 lifetime with Friday's victory and bumped her earnings up to $850,642. She has now won 10 races in a row dating back to last year. Andrew Harris trains the daughter of Tactical Landing-Consolidator and co-owns her with William Pollock and Bruce Areman.
“She was awesome in her last start [in the Delmonica Hanover] and she showed up again tonight,” said McCarthy. “She’s so fun to sit behind. Andrew has her going spot-on right now.”
Murial ($31.60) won the other New Jersey Classic elimination for three-year-old distaff trotters. The elim winners for sophomore trotting males were Onajetplane ($2.40) and The Rogue Prince ($5.80). Emmas Mystery Ccl ($5.20) and Southwind Chaska ($5.20) won the eliminations for two-year-old fillies of the same gait. The rookie male trot elimination victors were Apex ($3.20) and Practical Man ($37.80). Manolete ($7.80) won the sole $38,194 New Jersey Classic Prep for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings. Perfect Thought ($3.60) took the $27,778 prep for rookie fillies of the same gait.
Scott Zeron led the driver colony with three winners on the night. Noel Daley’s two jaunts down victory lane topped the trainers. All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,568,160.
Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with PIX11’s Marc Malusis joining Dave Little on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set.
(With files from The Meadowlands)