by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — She may be small in stature, but two-year-old pacing filly Chapeau looked huge in her 1:59 New York Sires Stakes victory at Monticello Raceway on Sunday, August 1.

Recently purchased by Michael Polansky, the filly flew out of the pocket around the final turn and blew by the leader with great ease, drawing away by eight and three-quarter lengths.

“She wanted to go more than I did,” said driver Jeff Gregory, who directed the winners of three of the afternoon’s four Sires Stake divisions. “She’s a very nice filly.”

“She took one look at that horse (pacesetter Venus Blue Chip), and was right by her,” said Polansky. “She looked like she wanted to go earlier, but Jeff kept her in. He knows that she is just a two-year-old and this is only the start of the season.”

Chapeau is one of two promising freshman Sires Stake horses that Polansky has bought in the last month.

“I wanted to participate in the New York Sires Stakes so I was looking for some horses,” he explained. “I think harness racing in New York is going to get really big with the VLTs. I knew that getting good two-year-olds would hopefully set them up for a good three-year-old year.”

The owner also purchased Victory Speech, the impressive two-year-old trotting colt who set a new Monticello track record in his first start there.

Doug Ackerman bred, raised and previously trained Chapeau, who is out of his successful broodmare, In Fashion. For Polansky, the Magical Mike–In Fashion mating has worked out well. He had already owned two other full siblings to the filly: New York Sires Stakes standout Star Role, now a winner of $435,000, and Hard Hitter, a $33,000 winner.

Gregory also steered Perfectly Sealed home in 2:01³. The Sealed N Delivered daughter is trained by Ray Van Dreason for David Towne, Robert Barnello, Richard Bailey and Paul Colosi. Breeders Gary Haas and Elizabeth Manning were also on hand to join the winner’s circle celebrations.

“She wants to be a racehorse,” said Barnello of the filly who sat in the pocket patiently and then tore up the inside lane down the stretch to win confidently. “We’ve had no problems at all with her. She trained down in Florida and sometimes got a little hot so we used earmuffs on her, but now when she races she’s fine.”

Pop Queen cruised home to break her maiden in 2:01¹ for Gregory. Fred Monteleone owns the Magical Mike filly trained by Anne Schlichtig.

Magically Swift also scored a maiden-breaking victory in 2:00⁴ with driver Yannick Gingras in the first division. Sarita Mosher trains the Magical Mike filly for Steven Burn and Martin Cornick.

“She’s a little green,” admitted the driver, “and she wanted to pull herself up in the last turn. If there had been someone to carry her, she would have been fine. But she was very good today.”

Sires Stake purses for the afternoon topped $111,000, with each division worth $27,825.