by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — When Ginger Girl, a 5-year-old daughter of Eighteen Karat, scored a 1:57.4 victory in the $14,300 Preferred Trot at Monticello Raceway on Wednesday afternoon, April 11, it was the second fastest trotting mile by a mare in the nearly 50 year history of the Mighty M.

Racehorsephoto.com photo

Ginger Girl’s 1:57.4 clocking was the second fastest trotting mile ever by a mare at Monticello.

Ginger Girl’s clocking was just one-fifth of a second off the 1:57.3 track record established by Miss Gibbons and her then 79-year-old pilot, Dr. Howard E. Gill, on September 14, 2005.

Co-owned by Claude Huckabone, Jr. and Casey Miller, and driven by Claude Huckabone III, Ginger Girl took no prisoners and went down the road en route to a wire-to-wire, two length triumph over Lord Valentine, who was handled by Stephane Bouchard.

Ginger Girl had been competing with mediocre success — two seconds and one third in seven races — at Saratoga Raceway during the months of February and March and returned to Monticello Raceway where she raced during January. She made her homecoming debut one for the ages.

A 10-time winner last year with a 1:54.4 record earned over Tioga Downs’ five-eighths-mile oval, two of Ginger Girl’s triumphs came at the Mighty M; the fastest was a 1:59 effort in mid-May.

But without question Ginger Girl was at the top of her game on Wednesday afternoon. Though she took a backseat in the wagering to Lord Valentine, a winner of six of eight races previously, she quickly gained command in the first turn and never was seriously challenged as she trotted through fractions of :29.1, :58.3 and 1:28.3 before kicking in a :29.1 final stanza en route to a 2-3/4 length victory over Lord Valentine. Flying Standby (Greg Merton) finished third, 7-1/2 lengths behind the winner.

Now with two wins — the other a 2:00.1 effort here at the Mighty M in January — three seconds and one third, Ginger Girl’s yearly purses total $33,850. Sent off at odds of 3-1, Ginger Girl paid $8.00 for win.

Earlier on the card, Annika Blue Chip’s second lifetime start was shrouded in mystery.

The 3-year-old daughter of Sealed N Delivered, owned by Freddie Monteleone and Sal Promuto, trained by Eddie Hart and driven by Stephane Bouchard, took a monstrous hit in the mutuels when a bridge jumper off-track plunked down $50,000 to place on the filly whose only other lifetime start was a second place finish on March 29th here at Monticello.

It’s not unusual that someone places an inordinate amount of money on a horse to hit the board, but when they do it’s typically for show on a pacer who sticks out and is hard pressed to get beat. So when mutuel manager Maureen Flynn received a $50,000 wager on a filly making her second lifetime start, to say she was surprised would be an understatement.

The bridge jumper must have had his heart in his throat at the finish. Annika Blue Chip did finish second to Matties Gem (Jimmy Devaux), but her number was flashing on the tote board which meant that the judges had an inquiry.

It turned out that the judges were reviewing her journey since she was ‘steppy’ going to the quarter and they wanted to make sure she didn’t break or interfere with anyone.

But eventually, and one would surmise much to the relief of the bridge jumper, she remained where she finished in the race. It caused a minus pool, but was also a very chancy way for someone to earn a quick $2,500 — especially on a maiden filly making her second lifetime start.