by Evan Pattak for The Meadows

, May 22, 2004­—Blossom Seelster was the fastest of five divisional winners and Winning Missbrenda kept on winning, making it four straight in the $115,980 Stenographer, a Pennsylvania Sires Stake for 3-year-old filly trotters Saturday night at The Meadows.

Other splits were taken by Tag A Victory, Photo Land and Satori Hanover.

Blossom Seelster, a daughter of Tagliabue, left from post position two but found herself outside in an early speed duel with the rail-sitter, Sea Urchin Hanover. Mark Etsell, who trains, drives and co-owns Blossom Seelster with Larry Clements, Chuan Chin Tan and Robert Newton, said he wasn’t concerned about the impact of the early battle.

“I trained her really good this week, so I wasn’t worried,” Etsell said. “I knew somebody would have to go 1:56 to beat her. She’s settled down some this year, she’s more easy to manage. She was a little bit one-dimensional last year. She grew taller, but she’s mentally bigger as well.”

Blossom Seelster put away her spent rival and drew off to win by 2 1/2 lengths in 1:57.2, two ticks off the stake record established by No Nonsense Woman in 1997. Whitesville Tara rallied strongly for second, while Mrs Rincon D was third.

Winning Missbrenda, a daughter of American Winner owned by Bob Key, captured a $50,000 division of the Lady Suffolk on May 7, and tonight she kept on rolling, holding off the late charge of 35-1 shot Sierra Wine by 1/2 length to win in 1:59. Edgy Hanover finished third.

Trainer/driver Charlie Norris noted that Winning Missbrenda’s progress at 2 halted when she was jostled around in the eliminations for the Merrie Annabelle.

“It shook her confidence for the whole year,” Norris said. “She was okay, but she wasn’t the same horse. She’s stronger and more manageable than she was last year. You can race her any way. She’s staked to everything. If she stays on track, we can bang out a few dollars.”

Tag A Victory, another divisional winner of the Lady Suffolk, has been in the money in all eight career starts. She made it look simple tonight, powering to the front with a quarter-pole move for driver Stephen Smith and effortlessly widening to a 3 ½-length win over Candidcamerakosmos and Keystone Samantha in 1:58.1

“I’m a little bit concerned with her shoes,” said Karen Garland, who trains Tag A Victory for C&I Racing Stable. “She wears flip-flops, which are tough on this track. The next time she comes here, I think we’ll switch back to regular shoes. She touched the bike a couple times tonight when Steve asked her to go on, so we’ll have to get her a bigger bike.”

Garland said Tag A Victory is eligible for such stakes as the Currier & Ives and the Hambletonian Oaks.

Photo Land, whose three previous wins came in overnight races, showed stake-caliber talent in making her quarter-pole move stand up. She scored by three parts of a length over Connemara and BWT Maija.

“I talked to Mike Wilder, her regular driver, who told me she’s a very willing filly,” said winning driver Dave Palone. “So I thought, rather than be first over, I’d move back to the front. It worked out for once, believe it or not. Pre-race strategy every once in a while works out.

“She was well in hand, a terrific filly to drive. She’s the kind where, when you look at her card at the end of the year to see how much she’s made, you’re shocked—all because she puts herself in a good spot.”

Trained by Mickey Burke, the daughter of S J’s Photo was purchased by John Howard at last year’s mixed sale at Harrisburg.

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In the overnight feature on Saturday’s card, Cam’s Fast Gun established a national season’s mark for older stallions on a 5/8 track, sizzling the course in 1:50.3. The 5-year-old son of Cam’s Card Shark is trained by Burke and owned by Howard, Sylvia Burke and James Koran.