by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — In the spring, shortly before she commenced her sophomore season on April 27, her conditioner was certain Handsoffmycookie’s preferred trip would be coming from the back over a larger oval, but as the year has progressed, Scott DiDomenico has altered his assessment of the filly’s predilections.

“If you would have asked me then I would have said she would be at her best over a five-eighths track, where she can follow other horses and then overtake them,” he said. “Now this year, I’d have to say she is really, really good on a half-mile track. When she went in 1:52 at Monticello she was very impressive and she just loves Yonkers. She’s been great there.”

Her next engagement will be the $229,440 Lady Maud final at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday (Nov. 10), possibly followed in short order by an appearance in the Matron elimination on Sunday (Nov. 11) at Dover Downs.

For the Yonkers contest, Handsoffmycookie would leave from post two with David Miller in the bike, while in the Matron elimination the following day, she would put her nose on the gate from the four hole with Tim Tetrick holding the reins.

Mike Lizzi photo

Handsoffmycookie enters the Lady Maud with $981,890 in lifetime earnings.

The daughter of Art Major and the Cambest mare Observe Me was purchased by JFE Enterprise LLC at the 2010 Harrisburg Sale for $25,000 and was originally named Winbak Artzy Gal.

In her first season of racing, Handsoffmycookie captured nine of her 12 starts with three second place finishes, took a mark of 1:52.4 at the Meadowlands and banked $575,066 in purse money.

Her triumphs included six New York Sire Stakes legs and the $175,000 series final, plus her $20,000 Sweetheart elimination. The seconds were in the $363,900 Sweetheart final to Pirouette Hanover, and to the eventual division champion Economy Terror in the $600,000 Breeders Crown final and the $380,000 Three Diamonds, with the Breeders Crown being a stakes record 1:51 and the Three Diamonds a world record of 1:50.3.

“I thought she was so-so; just kind of even,” DiDomenico said shortly after the filly’s first qualifier this year at Gaitway Farms. “She didn’t get home as good as we’d like, but it was very windy. Everything to this point has been very good, so we’re optimistic.

“That’s a tough group, with American Jewel, too,” he continued. “We don’t know if we can beat them, but we think we can go with them. We’re going to fight hard with them. Her best quality is her fight to win.”

Although Handsoffmycookie has not garnered the headlines like her colleagues American Jewel, Romantic Moment and Economy Terror, she has put together an extremely solid season with a record of 13-5-3-0 and $406,824 in the bank. Her first victory in 2012 was the $176,484 Lismore Pace at Yonkers Raceway on June 2. She was second in her next start in New York Sire Stakes competition before she reeled off two more wins in the same company, both at Yonkers.

After a brief freshening from July 16 to August 3, the filly won her qualifier at Yonkers before turning in the worst performance of her career with an eighth place finish in the $250,850 Empire Breeders Classic on August 12 at Tioga Downs.

“She was horrible that day and when we scoped her after the race, we found out she had bled,” DiDomenico said. “She certainly was not herself, but she bounced back to race well in the Valley Forge (at Harrah’s Philadelphia on August 19 where she finished fourth).”

Handsoffmycookie returned to the New York Sire Stakes for her next two races, both victories, at Monticello on August 28 and Saratoga on September 9. Her next appearance was a strong second to rival Romantic Moment in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes final on September 22 at Yonkers before a fifth in a $50,000 Mares Open on October 9 at Pocono Downs.

The filly then traveled north to Toronto, where she was fifth in her $25,000 Breeders Crown elimination on Oct. 20 and the $500,000 final on Oct. 27.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Handsoffmycookie will return to the racing wars as a 4-year-old in 2013.

“She has advanced some this year,” DiDomenico explained. “But she’s had some setbacks. Last year everything was very smooth and nothing ever came up with her. Like I said, she bled in the Empire Breeders Classic, then when we got to Woodbine, she got sick right away so we had her on antibiotics all week and tried to do everything we could for her, but we just ran out of time. She was okay and was good, but as you know when you are facing those kinds of horses, you have to be better than good. You have to be very good.

“Going into the Empire Breeders Classic I really thought we had as good of a shot as anyone to win,” he continued. “I know she drew badly and I didn’t like that they didn’t have a prep up there for her as I would have liked her to have a trip over the track, going for that kind of money.

“Even though she hasn’t had a real smooth year, in my mind, she’s as good as any of them on any given day when she’s right.”

DiDomenico does, however, like how his filly has looked since her Canadian voyage.

“We trained her (Wednesday) morning (Nov. 7) and she was really, really good,” he said. “She has a good spot at Yonkers on Saturday and we think she will give them a pretty good run. It depends on how she comes out of it, then we will see about Dover on Sunday.

“We are optimistic about her this weekend and she has never given us any reason not to be. Out of her 25 starts she has only not showed up one time and that’s when she did not feel good. It’s a long year and you have to pick your spots. She still has had a good year and made $400,000.”

If Handsoffmycookie does participate in the Matron Stake it will be her last appearance this year, but she still has some racing in store for her.

“If we race her in the Matron, she will then be turned out for four to six weeks, before being put back into training,” DiDomenico said. “We are going to race her next year and are aiming for mainly Yonkers in races like the Opens and Blue Chip. If it seems like she handles that maybe we will try to take on some of the aged mares. She gets over the track very well and with the money they go for there, if she does well, which I think she will because she is a really, really good horse, she will still make a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

The draw for the Lady Maud is as follows: 1-Bettor B Lucky (Jim Morrill, Jr., 6-1), 2-Handsoffmycookie (David Miller, 5-1), 3-Ramalama (Jason Bartlett, 15-1), 4-Economy Terror (Eric Goodell, 3-1), 5-Major Look (George Brennan, 6-1), 6-Romantic Moment (Brian Sears, 8-5), and 7-Rockaround Sue (Mark MacDonald, 12-1).