Maid For Tag sets track record in BC Mare Trot elim
August 15, 2009,from Meadowlands Publicity Department
East Rutherford, NJ — Maid For Tag upset the field with a 1:51.4 track record mile in the $40,000 elimination for the Breeders Crown Mare Trot, the only division requiring an elimination round, on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Lisa Photo
Maid For Tag trotted to a 1:51.4 track record mile in the $40,000 elimination for the Breeders Crown Mare Trot Saturday at the Meadowlands.
A 27-1 shot, Maid For Tag [$56.60, $30.20, $7.40] angled out of third turn to track down the leader Up Front Hotsey on the final turn and draw off to a 2-1/2 length victory over the pocket sitter Spice Queen [$19.80, $8.00]. Buck I St Pat [$2.40] rallied late for third. Driven by Yannick Gingras, Maid For Tag surpassed Moni Maker’s long-standing track record for an aged trotting mare (1:52.1, 2000) and equaled the fastest mile by a female trotter at the Meadowlands shared by Queen Serene (2007), Peaceful Way (2005) and Beat The Wheel (1994).
Maid For Tag, an 8-year-old daughter of Tagliabue, was racing in Scandinavia prior to shipping to North America in July for the Armbro Flight Stakes at Mohawk. Oyvind Hegdal took over her training duties last week from Harald Lunde and owner Per Arne Claussen of Norway last week. The prolific mare surpassed $450,000 in earnings with the victory, her 21st in 115 career starts.
“Oyvind told me to put her on the gate,” Gingras said. “She can leave real quick and you can choose where you want to follow from there. I got away in the three-hole behind two good horses, Up Front Hotsey and Spice Queen. I was happy with that. They were rolling along pretty good, so my mare was comfortable. I tipped her at the top of the stretch and she just took off from there. I wasn’t surprised of the time after three quarters in 1:24; I figured I was going to go 1:51, 1:52. I was just surprised how much trot she had when I pulled her.”
“She was one of the best mares in Europe,” Hegdal noted.
The first eight finishers will join Autumn Escapade and Lavec Dream in the $250,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot, one of four championships worth a combined $1.6 million, to be raced Saturday, August 22 at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Lisa Photo
Art Official, the 2008 Meadowlands Pace winner, held off Shark Gesture by a nose in a prep race for the $500,000 Breeders Crown Pace.
Art Official, the 2008 Meadowlands Pace winner, wired the field in a prep race for the $500,000 Breeders Crown Pace. Driven by Ron Pierce, Art Official held off Shark Gesture by a nose to win the $30,000 event in a season’s best 1:47.4. Mister Big, the defending Crown champion, employed his signature first over attack to finish third. Art Official picked up his third win in eight starts since returning from a pulled muscle in June. Joe Seekman trains the son of Art Major for Sawgrass Farms of Lockport, IL.
Dreamfair Eternal earned back nearly half of the $37,500 fee her connections paid to supplement her to the $331,500 Breeders Crown Mare Pace with a game first over victory in a prep race. With Tony Kerwood at the lines, Dreamfair Eternal edged past the leader Go On BB at the top of the stretch and held off the fast-charging Darlin’s Delight by a neck in 1:49 flat. John and Mary Lamers’ Dreamfair Eternal has won 10 of 18 starts this year, including the Roses Are Red Final at Mohawk. The 5-year-old mare is a daughter of 1991 Breeders Crown champion Camluck.
The Breeders Crown events, which also include the $600,000 Trot headlined by Lucky Jim, share the spotlight with the $400,000 Woodrow Wilson and $350,000 Sweetheart on closing night of the 2009 Harness Meet, Saturday, August 22.
East Rutherford, NJ — Maid For Tag upset the field with a 1:51.4 track record mile in the $40,000 elimination for the Breeders Crown Mare Trot, the only division requiring an elimination round, on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.
A 27-1 shot, Maid For Tag [$56.60, $30.20, $7.40] angled out of third turn to track down the leader Up Front Hotsey on the final turn and draw off to a 2-1/2 length victory over the pocket sitter Spice Queen [$19.80, $8.00]. Buck I St Pat [$2.40] rallied late for third. Driven by Yannick Gingras, Maid For Tag surpassed Moni Maker’s long-standing track record for an aged trotting mare (1:52.1, 2000) and equaled the fastest mile by a female trotter at the Meadowlands shared by Queen Serene (2007), Peaceful Way (2005) and Beat The Wheel (1994).
Maid For Tag, an 8-year-old daughter of Tagliabue, was racing in Scandinavia prior to shipping to North America in July for the Armbro Flight Stakes at Mohawk. Oyvind Hegdal took over her training duties last week from Harald Lunde and owner Per Arne Claussen of Norway last week. The prolific mare surpassed $450,000 in earnings with the victory, her 21st in 115 career starts.
“Oyvind told me to put her on the gate,” Gingras said. “She can leave real quick and you can choose where you want to follow from there. I got away in the three-hole behind two good horses, Up Front Hotsey and Spice Queen. I was happy with that. They were rolling along pretty good, so my mare was comfortable. I tipped her at the top of the stretch and she just took off from there. I wasn’t surprised of the time after three quarters in 1:24; I figured I was going to go 1:51, 1:52. I was just surprised how much trot she had when I pulled her.”
“She was one of the best mares in Europe,” Hegdal noted.
The first eight finishers will join Autumn Escapade and Lavec Dream in the $250,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot, one of four championships worth a combined $1.6 million, to be raced Saturday, August 22 at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Art Official, the 2008 Meadowlands Pace winner, wired the field in a prep race for the $500,000 Breeders Crown Pace. Driven by Ron Pierce, Art Official held off Shark Gesture by a nose to win the $30,000 event in a season’s best 1:47.4. Mister Big, the defending Crown champion, employed his signature first over attack to finish third. Art Official picked up his third win in eight starts since returning from a pulled muscle in June. Joe Seekman trains the son of Art Major for Sawgrass Farms of Lockport, IL.
Dreamfair Eternal earned back nearly half of the $37,500 fee her connections paid to supplement her to the $331,500 Breeders Crown Mare Pace with a game first over victory in a prep race. With Tony Kerwood at the lines, Dreamfair Eternal edged past the leader Go On BB at the top of the stretch and held off the fast-charging Darlin’s Delight by a neck in 1:49 flat. John and Mary Lamers’ Dreamfair Eternal has won 10 of 18 starts this year, including the Roses Are Red Final at Mohawk. The 5-year-old mare is a daughter of 1991 Breeders Crown champion Camluck.
The Breeders Crown events, which also include the $600,000 Trot headlined by Lucky Jim, share the spotlight with the $400,000 Woodrow Wilson and $350,000 Sweetheart on closing night of the 2009 Harness Meet, Saturday, August 22.