East Rutherford, NJ – The doll of her class as a 2- and 3-year-old, Sylvia Hanover endured many defeats as Twin B Joe Fresh claimed the crown in the 4-year-old campaign in progress to a Horse of the Year title. But Sylvia Hanover returned in the fourth start of her 5-year-old season and landed a serious wallop on 1-9 chalk Twin B Joe Fresh to pull a stunner in the $116,500 Perfect Sting Mare Pace on Saturday night (June 28) at The Meadowlands.
Leaving from the pylon post, driver Tim Tetrick charged Sylvia Hanover to the fore and endured pressure from Aardie B Miki N through a :26 first quarter before caving for a pocket ride. Tetrick then found himself shuffled to third when My Girl EJ swooped from a forward seat to the front of the train before a :53.4 half. Twin B Joe Fresh meanwhile raced fourth and angled first-up for a steady grind through the final turn.
Twin B Joe Fresh inched to within a length of My Girl EJ coming to three-quarters in 1:21.3 while Tetrick had room to swing into the second-over seat with Sylvia Hanover in the turn for home. Twin B Joe Fresh reached forward for the lead as Tetrick launched to the center of the track with Sylvia Hanover, and within a matter of strides she bolted past the reigning divisional champ to score a 10-1 shock going away by two lengths in a 1:48.2 mile. My Girl EJ settled for third and Valar Dohaeris closed for fourth.
“She’s just a great horse,” winning driver Tim Tetrick said after the race. “She overcomes bad drives and she’s tough. Speed doesn’t really bother her – she’s big, strong and can carry it. I went hard to the quarter to make sure they had plenty of speed, and I think she’s just better if she wears them all out. That was just my theory on it, and it continued to work.”
Mark Steacy trains Sylvia Hanover, a 5-year-old mare by Always B Miki, for owner Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. She won her 23rd race from 43 starts, has now earned $1.92 million and paid $23.80 to win.
To watch the replay of the Perfect Sting, click here.
REYNOLDS WRAP UP: There were four divisions of the W.N. Reynolds for 3-year-old trotters contested on the undercard, with two dashes for colts and geldings and two for fillies.
In the first split for males, which went for a purse of $34,825, Hambletonian hopeful Go Dog Go (Greenshoe-Primary Target) followed live cover on the way to a lifetime-best 1:52 score for driver Todd McCarthy and trainer Carter Pinske. The 1-5 favorite paid $2.60 to win.
Another horse with Hambo dreams, Gap Kronos S (Face Time Bourbon-I’m Really Special) took the lead at the half and went down the road from there in the other division for males for Yannick Gingras and Ake Svanstedt in a lifetime-best-equaling 1:51.4. As the 9-5 second choice, he returned $5.60 to his backers in the $34,325 dash.
Yo Tillie (Tactical Landing-Consolidator) used an explosive move to three-quarters to win the first division for fillies – which went for $33,375 – by eight lengths in a lifetime-best 1:51 for Todd McCarthy and Andrew Harris. The 2-5 public choice paid $2.80.
In the $32,875 second split for fillies, New Jersey Sire Stakes champion and Hambletonian Oaks eligible Conversano (Muscle Hill-Celebrity Ruth) grabbed the lead at the half and held sway to the wire in 1:52.1 for Andy McCarthy and Juan Cano. As the 8-5 second choice, she paid $5.40.
A LITTLE MORE: A carryover of $6,742 enticed bettors to pour $57,678 of “new money” into the 20-cent Pick-6 pool for a grand total of $64,420. After a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 9-1, 2-1, 2-5, 10-1, 8-5 and 7-2, winning tickets were exchanged for $4,253.76. … Joe Bongiorno, Todd McCarthy and Dave Miller led the drivers with two wins apiece, while Svanstedt and Bongiorno topped the trainers as each took a pair of walks down victory lane. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $3,515,284. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m. (EDT).