by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — When she was a baby, conditioner Jonas Czernyson speculated whether Maven would ever overcome her attitude of entitlement and display her true talent when it was time to advance to the gate, but his concerns were most definitely unfounded. The filly, who is one of only two to ever cross the wire before champion Check Me Out, merely was biding her time to show she was more than capable on the race track: it just has to be her way.

“When she trained down she showed us she had talent, but she just never put it together in a good way,” Czernyson explained. “We thought why should we really stake her to anything when anytime you looked at her she would make a break?

“She is tough around the barn and thinks she is Queen Maven,” he continued. “If she doesn’t want to go in the bath stall, there’s no way she’s going to, but the next day she’ll walk in like she’s never had a problem. We can live with it though as long as she does good and when she’s on the track she is good. That’s when she seems to get over it all.”

New Image Media photo

Maven lowered her mark to 1:53.1 in capturing her Elegantimage elimination on June 8.

The daughter of Glidemaster and the unraced American Winner mare M Stewart was purchased (under the name Bella Topona) by William Donovan at the 2010 Lexington Selected Sale for $37,000. M Stewart has been a prolific broodmare as she has also poduced Glide About (m, Yankee Glide, 3,1:54.2, $291,650), Domestic Diva (m, Yankee Glide, 5,1:55, $146,875), Lanson (g, Self Possessed, 6,1:51.3, $789,306) and Glide By (m, Yankee Glide, 3,1:55.2s, $98,030).

In 2011, Maven started 11 times with seven victories, one second and one third while earning $155,594 and establishing a mark of 1:56f. She was triumphant in a $16,810 division of the Tompkins-Geers at Tioga Downs on July 14, a $20,000 division of the Arden Downs at the Meadows on July 25, a $109,100 division of the Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile on September 29, and in two $10,000 legs of the Kindergarten Series. She was fourth in the $182,500 Kindergarten Final on Oct. 28.

In her first pari-mutuel mile of this season, Maven defeated Check Me Out in a $66,778 division of a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes event at the Meadows in a stakes record 1:53.4 on May 15. She then finished sixth in a similar contest at Harrah’s Philadelphia on May 31 and rebounded with a win in her $33,950 Elegantimage elimination at Mohawk on June 8 in 1:53.1, which was a new lifetime mark and the fastest mile trotted by any 3-year-old filly this year. She’s also added more than $51,000 to her bank account.

Chris Gooden photo

Maven set a stakes record of 1:53.4 in stopping Check Me Out in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race on May 15 at The Meadows.

Her next engagement will be facing rival Check Me Out and eight other opponents once again in Saturday’s (June 16) C$530,000 Elegantimage Final. She will leave from post four.

“We will cross our fingers and hope she’ll be as good as she can,” Czernyson said. “I think she can go with those up there and she came out of her last race real good.

“I was surprised (by her earlier defeat of Check Me Out),” he continued. “I have to say Check Me Out is not only the filly everyone is talking about, but the horse everyone is talking about. She is a monster, but I hope (we can win), but that’s tough to say.”

After deciding to stake Maven to the top trotting events for her age and gender this year, Czernyson is still taking a cautious approach to exactly which the filly will enter, but he does have an immediate goal.

“We are pretty much taking it one race at a time,” he said. “But I would be lying if I wouldn’t say we were aiming her for the (Hambletonian) Oaks, but we still have to get there.”