After butting heads with North America’s top fillies all season, Miss Paris brings her skills to the Ontario Sires Stakes program this Thursday, competing in one of three $40,000 Gold Eliminations at Rideau Carleton Raceway
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Ottawa resident Mel Hartman shares ownership of the two-year-old trotting filly with Herb Liverman of Miami Beach, FL and David McDuffee of Delray Beach, FL, and says the group patterned Miss Paris’ early career in the style of their former star Poof Shes Gone.
“From Day 1, when Nifty (Norman) broke her, it looked like she was going to be a good one,” explains Hartman. “We took our time with her and then we raced her in the Merrie Annabelle, we followed what Poof Shes Gone did.”
Like $1.3 million winner Poof Shes Gone, Miss Paris made one start in an overnight event at The Meadowlands, finishing second in the 1:56.2 mile, and then captured her July 29 Merrie Annabelle elimination with a strong 1:57.2 effort on a sloppy Meadowlands oval. The filly’s career path deviated from her mentor’s the following week however, as she finished fourth in the Merrie Annabelle final.
Trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman then sent the daughter of Kadabra-Pizza Dolce north and she prepped for a series of stakes engagements at Mohawk Racetrack with a 1:57.4 win in an Aug. 23 overnight event. In her northern stakes debut Miss Paris delivered a fourth-place effort in a division of the Sept. 1 Champlain Stakes, and one week later she rocketed down the stretch to a second-place result in her Peaceful Way elimination.
Hartman and his partners were hoping for a breakout performance from the filly in the Sept. 18 Peaceful Way Final, but they were not counting on the 1:53.3 stakes, track and Canadian record pace set by victor Win Missy B.
“I thought she was ready to win the Peaceful Way if they went where I thought they would go, but they went a little faster,” says Hartman wryly.
The longtime owner says Miss Paris will make the remainder of her starts on Canadian soil, and hopes she comes up with a top three effort over his local oval Thursday.
“We’ll see how she does Thursday, I see she’s got the rail,” notes Hartman. “She came out of the race okay, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
“Nifty already has a driver, so I guess I’ll leave my uniform at home,” adds the former amateur driver with a chuckle.
Scott Zeron has piloted Miss Paris in all of her Canadian starts thus far and will be back at the helm on Thursday, sending the filly after a share of the $40,000 purse from Post 1 in the fourth race. With three eliminations, only the top three finishers from each will advance to the Sept. 29 Gold Final.
Miss Paris will also be looking to accumulate some Gold Series points with the goal of finishing the regular season among the top 10 point earners and landing a berth in the $300,000 Super Final. Success in the last two Gold events and the Super Final would also help offset the $210,000 Hartman and his partners spent to acquire the full sister to $753,133 winner Bella Dolce.
“My partner David McDuffee owned the mare and he was all hot to trot about this filly,” recalls Hartman. “Once I saw her I knew we’d have to pay a lot of money for her, and I was right, there was quite a lot of action on her.”
Hartman expects the interest in Kadabra offspring to be high again this fall after sons Daylon Magician and The Game Plan swept the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic and $469,000 Wellwood Stakes at Mohawk on the weekend.
“He’s the real McCoy. I’ve had a lot of faith in him and he’s proved his get can race against anything in North America,” says the owner. “We had luck with Poof Shes Gone and we’ve stayed with Kadabra; and I’ve bred a lot of my own mares to Kadabra.”
A total of six daughters of Kadabra will compete in Thursday’s Gold Eliminations, slated as Races 1, 2 and 4 on the Rideau Carleton Raceway card. The first elimination rolls in behind the starting gate at 6:30 p.m.
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To view entries for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Entries – Rideau Carleton Raceway.