Ten years ago this month, Western Silk provided Tom Hill with one heck of a 60th birthday present. It may have been a few days belated, but the filly's victory in the 2010 Jugette proved to be the icing on the proverbial cake. Now, with Hill's 70th birthday just days away and his Party Girl Hill looking like a world beater, the English Standardbred owner may soon be in for a serious case of deja vu.
It goes without saying that Party Girl Hill has taken the Standardbred world by storm in 2020. After having gone unraced as a juvenile last season, the bay daughter of Captaintreacherous has been the force in the three-year-old pacing filly division in 2020. Party Girl Hill has won all nine of her starts this year and has banked $534,381. She recently followed up her Fan Hanover victory by zipping to a mark-lowering 1:48.4 win in her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final at Harrah's Philadelphia.
After what his filly has done on the racetrack this year, and after his experience with Western Silk 10 years ago, there is no wonder why Hill is looking forward to the upcoming stakes action at Ohio’s Delaware County Fair -- even though he will be forced to watch from afar.
"I'm very excited and looking forward to it," Hill has told Trot Insider. "It was my 60th birthday back then and now 10 years later we are going back with a phenomenal filly for my 70th.
"It (the Jugette) is very special, being around my birthday, even though we cannot fly to Canada or the U.S. at the moment due to COVID-19," said Hill. "My birthday is the 19th of September, and the funny thing is that my grandson Tom's birthday is on the 23rd and he is always at the track and sales with me."
The Jugette will be the focal point of the Wednesday, September 23 card of racing at Delaware. The Little Brown Jug will follow on Thursday, September 24. Unfortunately, spectators will not be allowed at the fair to watch the races this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To win the Jugette is a thrill, undoubtedly, but the Little Brown Jug even more so. With Party Girl Hill being as impressive as she has, Hill admitted that he thought about the idea of his star filly taking on the boys in the cherished stakes. Although it has been decided that Party Hill Girl will slug it out with the girls in the Jugette, Hill has full confidence that his filly could've handled her males rivals.
"I asked (trainer) Chris Ryder what he wanted to do and I left it up to him," Hill told Trot Insider. "He is doing a great job with her and that's why I left it up to him. We were not bothered either way. We were not worried about taking on the colts in the Jug. I think she could beat the boys and the girls if she stays sound, healthy and has luck."
Party Girl Hill, pictured victorious at the Meadows.
It will never be known whether Party Girl Hill could've toppled the boys in the 2020 Little Brown Jug, but with everything that the filly has done to this point, the discussion is surely valid.
"People have been messaging us saying that she's the best horse they have seen Somebeachsomewhere," Hill said. "She's been one fifth of a second off of world records twice and still had plenty in the tank. We think she is a very special filly -- the best horse that we have ever owned -- and it also feels great that we were her breeder."