Dover, DE — After falling short in the finals of the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series and Breeders Crown, Holly Lane Stud East Ltd.’s Luna Lovegood put it all together in Monday’s (Nov. 11) $116,100 Matron Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies at Bally’s Dover, coasting to a 1:53.2 win over Kendra.
Dexter Dunn floated Luna Lovegood forward from the outside in the compact field of four, and the pair used the entire first turn to advance at the flank of early leader Kendra (driven by Todd McCarthy) before clearing to the lead after a :28.3 first quarter. Once on top, Luna Lovegood remained unchallenged through middle splits of :57.2 and 1:25 before only facing a mild threat from Kendra off the home turn. Luna Lovegood kept to her task through the lane under the mildest of encouragement from Dunn, using a :28.2 final quarter to keep Kendra 1-1/4 lengths at bay.
Halfadozen (Daniel Dubé) finished third, another 17 lengths behind.
Marcus Melander trains Luna Lovegood, a daughter of Gimpanzee-Southwind Venus with five wins and $246,650 in career earnings from nine starts. As the prohibitive 1-20 favorite, she paid $2.10 to win.