by Kimberly Rinker, managing editor, Hoof Beats

Campbellville, ON — A And Gsconfusion rolled to a new track record clocking of 1:51.2 in the C$782,200 She’s A Great Lady Final on Saturday night (September 1) at Mohawk Racetrack with David Miller at the lines.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Mark Capone (left) and David Miller accept the She’s A Great Lady trophy from Bruce Murray, WEG’s vice president of Standardbred racing.

The 2-year-old daughter of Allamerican Native battled hard with the leading Thong (Tim Tetrick) in late stretch, after earlier fractions of :27.2, :56 and 1:24.2, to pick up her second win of the year in four tries for trainer Mark Capone and owners A And G Stables of Bronx, N.Y.

“I left the gate and looked for a hole, and when I pulled my filly, she came with authority, and had a lot left in the tank afterward,” Miller noted. “I really didn’t think we were going that fast or had a chance of breaking the track record. That kind of surprised me.”

The previous track record for freshman pacing fillies was 1:51.4, co-held by Cabana Fever (Luc Ouellette, August 26, 2006) and Southwind Rio (Mark MacDonald, September 8, 2006).

Trainer Capone said the win came as no surprise to him.

“I told Dave we had the best horse and the worst post; it was up to him to figure out how to get there,” Capone noted. “He did a great job figuring it out. I had a ton of confidence. I wasn’t even nervous tonight. I was just worried about getting a trip. I felt I was overdue. I’ve never won a big final here, other than a Super Final, but never a Grand Circuit type win. I’ve won five or six eliminations, but never a final. I thought we won’t get beat this week. Dave did a really great job getting it done.”

“The filly has been good all along,” Capone said. “We raced the mother and the father; she’s a homebred, so it was a lot of fun. She’s just been maturing by leaps and bounds along the way. When I qualified her one day I decided to test her and she was really impressive. She’s been getting bigger and stronger every day. She’s been nothing but a good filly. I felt I had the best horse.”

Tim Tetrick, driving Thong, was happy with his filly’s performance.

“She raced really well in here and went a big mile,” Tetrick noted. “It sure didn’t look like they would go in 1:51.2 in here, that’s for sure. She just got beat by a better horse tonight.”

Longshot Red In The Face finished third for Jody Jamieson, with Beachy Girl fourth, followed by All Accounted For, U Make Me Laugh, Arts Diva, Timeless Artist, See And Be Seen and Beyonce Blue Chip.