The progression of Party Girl Hill from 'precocious newcomer' to 'potential monster' took another significant step during the Sunday (Aug. 9) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. The three-year-old Captaintreacherous pacing filly won in the $93,542 third prelim of her division’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) in 1:49, two-fifths of a second off the world record in only the sixth start of her undefeated career.
Party Girl Hill settled in third through a :26.1 first quarter, then moved to the outside for driver Dexter Dunn and quickly brushed to command, hitting the half in :54.4. She then shrugged the two-wide tier going to three-quarters in 1:22.2. With next to no coaxing for Dunn in the lane, the powerful filly came home in :26.3, winding up four-and-a-half lengths to the good of JK First Lady.
Unraced at two and now a winner of $190,381 in the 59 days of her purse career, Party Girl Hill will be a major force in whatever competition she enters for trainer Chris Ryder and owner Tom Hill. One of her upcoming races is her PASS Championship at Harrah’s Philly on Sunday, Sept. 7, and she already has an invitation to that dance being the only filly to win in all three PASS prelims so far.
In the other Sire Stakes cut, Rocknificent went out in :26.4 for driver Scott Zeron to make the lead, surrendered the front to last year’s divisional champion Lyons Sentinel, then came her own last panel of :26.3 to get past the pacesetter by a neck in 1:50.4. Completing the PASS siring double for Captaintreacherous, Rocknificent now has two wins and a third in the Sire Stakes this season, and she now has $423,429 in career earnings for trainer Linda Toscano and the partnership of Enviro Stables LTD, South Mountain Stables, and Little E LLC.
Party Girl Hill’s connections of Dexter Dunn and Chris Ryder of course combined on Hambo Day by winning the Sam McKee with Bettors Wish, and one recurrent theme in the six $20,000 divisions of this group’s Stallion Series action was the reunion of drivers and trainers who also won Saturday – and for them with females to boot.
Andrew McCarthy and Tony Alagna, the day after their magnificent victory with Ramona Hill in the big event, scored with the Somebeachsomewhere filly Caviart Heather in a new mark of 1:51.3 for Caviart Farms.
McCarthy teamed with trainer Brett Bittle to take the Doherty Final with Darlene Hanover, and then 27 hours later they saw the Captaintreacherous miss Going Gone Hanover pull the pocket and come home in :54.2 - :26.3 for a 1:52.1 success, her second Stallion Series win for Yankeeland Partners LLP.
A third such Jersey-Pennsy connection was behind the Captaintreacherous filly Lyons Monatize, who reported home first in a new mark of 1:52 for Threelyonsracing and the combo of driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Jim King Jr., who won with the remarkable Shartin N in the Lady Liberty the day before.
Another theme in the Stallion Series was trainer Chris Beaver getting a new addition to the barn from the Emerald Highlands Farm, seeing the horse drop down from the Sires Stakes, and going on to victory. The fastest Stallion Series winner was the Sweet Lou filly Sweet Filly and driver Matt Kakaley in 1:50.1, preventing second-place The Bethinator from becoming a three-time winner in the series. The other Beaver winner was the Somebeachsomewhere filly Candy On The Beach, who reported home first in a career best of 1:51.2 for Scott Zeron.
Zeron and Dexter Dunn won both a Sire Stakes section and a Stallion Series cut, and sire Somebeachsomewhere had his third Stallion Series credit, when the Brett Pelling-trained filly Alexa Skye notched her second Stallion Series win, tallying in 1:54 for Dunn and the partnership of Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and John Lengacher.
(PHHA/Pocono)