World champion Warrawee Ubeaut will be elsewhere this Saturday, and thus a number of talented three-year-old filly pacers will be looking to earn their spurs in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action at the Meadows on June 8. Two who appear especially promising are Odds On St Lucie from the Tony Alagna stable and Ron Coyne Jr. trainee Philly Hanover.
The Belmont Day card will kick off with a special post time of 11:25 a.m. The sire stakes will span Race 7 through 9. Odds On St Lucie will start from Post 3 in Race 9, while Philly Hanover will start from Post 6 in Race 8. Both fillies will have the services of Dexter Dunn.
Warrawee Ubeaut and several other divisional standouts will compete in Saturday’s Fan Hanover eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk, which is fine by Alagna.
“I knew some of them would be heading there,” he said, “so I thought it would be a good chance to get her in some stakes company without some of the top-tier fillies.”
A daughter of Sweet Lou-Shes Some Treasure who races for Dana Parham’s Odds On Racing, Odds On St Lucie brought $110,000 at the Lexington yearling sale, but she popped a curb early in her training.
“We had to give her some time to get that set,” said Alagna. “She got really good at the end of the year and finished up well. She trained back well in Florida.”
Indeed, she won the $148,700 final of the Kindergarten series at the Meadowlands Racetrack. She’ll make her seasonal debut Saturday after three qualifiers — the last in 1:50.
One question about Odds On St Lucie remains. Why would Alagna, who trained Captaintreacherous and belongs to the Captaintreacherous Syndicate, give $110,000 for a daughter of Sweet Lou, the Captain’s chief rival in the breeding shed?
“Her dam is a full sister to Captain,” Alagna explains. “She was meant to be a very good mare and won her first start in a PA All-Stars event. The next morning, she spiked a fever of 106. She about died on us on several occasions. I knew I’d buy her first foal no matter what it took.”
Philly Hanover (Captaintreacherous-Paris Hanover) banked $111,415 at two and nearly pulled off the shocker of the year when she rallied from well back to finish second by a neck to Sylph Hanover — at 39-1 — in the PASS championship at the Meadows. That day, Warrawee Ubeaut was third. This year, she’s captured three of her four outings, including a PASS split at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
“There’s no one particular thing she does really well,” says Coyne, who owns Philly Hanover with Blair Corbeil, “but she does a lot of things pretty well. She’s handy, has a little speed if you need it and can close off cover. I guess ‘versatile’ is the word I want.”
The Belmont Day card also features three $20,000 divisions of a PA Stallion Series stakes for sophomore filly pacers and a trio of carryovers: $4,166.94 in the Pick 5 (Races 2-6), $2,050.65 in the Pick4 (Races 3-6) and $491.44 in the final-race Super Hi-5.
In addition, the Meadows and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association (MSOA) will offer a number of fan activities, including paddock tours, starting gate rides and ‘Spin to Win’ giveaways. DJ-AJ will play live music beginning at 3:30 p.m., and the BBQ tent will be open on the apron.
(MSOA)