Washington, PA — It was on Sept. 5, 2020, that Anoka Hanover lost, finishing third to Flawless Country in the Pennsylvania Sires Stake championship for freshman filly trotters. Mark that date; it’s the last time Anoka Hanover tasted defeat. She’s ripped off eight straight victories, all in high-level stakes, a performance that earned her the divisional Dan Patch Award.

On Saturday, the daughter of Donato Hanover-Aunt Mel will try to extend her winning streak to nine in the Meadow Bright, a $143,132 PA Sires Stake at The Meadows. The Meadow Bright goes as races one and three, and the card also features a $60,000 PA Stallion Series event for 3-year-old filly trotters. First post is 12:45 p.m.

Anoka Hanover has a career bankroll of $612,080. Chris Gooden photo.

If anyone wondered whether Anoka Hanover would come back strong at 3, she dispelled all doubts in the May 21 PASS opener at Harrah’s Philadelphia when she rolled from mid-pack to score in a track-record equaling 1:52.3 and lift her career bankroll to $612,080.

Noel Daley, who conditions Anoka Hanover and owns with Caviart Farms, Crawford Farms Racing and L.A. Express Stable, acknowledges he would not have predicted her greatness, if not downright dominance, when he was prepping her for her debut.

“Before she got to the qualifiers, she wasn’t the smoothest-gaited thing in the world,” Daley says. “After she had about four starts, we knew she was pretty special. She has power and a really good attitude. She’s a bulldog. She’s come from off the speed in most of her starts; maybe that’s why we could give her 14 starts at 2.”

Anoka Hanover leaves from post two, race three with Todd McCarthy, who has driven her throughout her streak. She’ll face only five other fillies, but Daley says that won’t alter his instructions to McCarthy; he won’t offer any.

“I haven’t given him any instructions so far, and I won’t. He’ll race her the way she races. It’s a long year, and you take it week to week. But she has a better attitude than most of the fillies she’ll face. I wouldn’t swap her for any of them.”

Love Muffin has won eight times in 12 career starts. Chris Gooden photo.

The other Meadow Bright split features a filly who wasn’t among the division’s glamor girls last year. Love Muffin won the PA Stallion Series championship, but her connections steered her clear of marquee events. Yet when the daughter of Andover Hall-Pine Yankee walked through the sales ring at Timonium last fall, Andy Miller Stable dug deep and gave $200,000 for her. What did Andy Miller and Love Muffin’s new trainer, Julie Miller, see in the filly?

“We thought the price was a little high,” Andy Miller says, “but she’ll be a broodmare when she’s through racing. Some friends already have told us they want to breed their horses to her. As a racehorse, she’s very versatile. She has lots of speed, she’s quick from the gate, but she also can race behind a helmet.”

Love Muffin kicked off her sophomore campaign in that PASS at Harrah’s Philadelphia and scored in 1:52.4, just a tick off Anoka Hanover’s record, giving some glimpse of her potential.

She’ll leave for Miller from post four, race one, with only four other fillies to beat. But Miller indicates the shortness of the field likely won’t affect his driving strategy.

“You might want to be closer to the front, but it’s still a horse race. This race is still very competitive.”