Monticello, NY — Monday afternoon (Aug. 14) at Monticello, fans witnessed the fastest mile ever for a 2-year-old trotter, regardless of sex, in the track’s storied 65-year history when Senorita Palema trotted to a new track record of 1:56.4. It was one of the most impressive and dominant scores in recent memory at the Mighty M.

The group of freshman trotting fillies were well-behaved, with the ten-race card featuring three divisions of Sire Stakes and three $20,000 Excelsior Stakes dashes.

Senorita Palema trotted to a new track record of 1:56.4. Liz Stubits photo.

The race of the year was race eight. The $35,200 final split of Sire Stakes was a six-horse contest. When the gate left, so did the favorite, Senorita Palema. Once on the lead, she never looked back, extending her margin at every panel.

She trotted the opening panel in a brisk :28.3 and had three lengths on the pack. The lead remained the same at the half in :57.4. From there, it was an exhibition of awe. The next panel, she was up by six. She had nine lengths on her closest competitor at the top of the stretch and from there, she kicked in the afterburner and was on top by two city blocks to win by 14 lengths in a new track record of 1:56.4.

Driver Mark MacDonald did an excellent job in refraining the filly from going faster as he controlled her tempo as much as possible. She was under wraps and still had plenty of trot in her. Jeannie’s Action (Jordan Stratton) was second, followed by Karolina Solveig (Joe Bongiorno).

The noble gaited daughter of Chapter Seven–Tosca showed she was worth the hefty investment of $150,000 as a yearling acquisition for trainer Ake Svanstedt. In four starts, she now has two wins and two seconds in the tough NY Sire Stakes circuit, with seasonal earnings of $65,400. She is owned by Bender Sweden Inc.

The first race was a short field of four New York Sire Stakes fillies worth $34,500. Sadbirdstillsing (Tyler Buter) had the lead in the opening panel in :29.4 and set the tempo throughout. Seven Year Itch (Stratton) was fourth and last at the half in a soft 1:00.3. Positions remained unchanged until the five-eighths marker, when Stratton came over. In the paddock turn, Seven Year itch was almost head-to-head with the leader. It was a horse race to the wire, and took a photo to decide the tight finish, with Seven Year Itch ultimately taking home the win in 2:00.1 ($6.10). The daughter of Chapter Seven–Royal Lady is trained by Vernon Beachy.

The Ron Burke-trained Sister Mary Maude extended her win streak to four in NYSS competition in the $35,200 final division. The daughter of Crazy Wow–Perfect Mass took the lead past the opening stanza and never looked back for driver Bongiorno, finishing in 1:58.3 ($2.90). Star Attraction (MacDonald) was second, followed by Erin (Dan Daley).

In Excelsior action, Dozen, a Marcus Melander trained daughter of Chapter Seven–Sequin, sat third most of the mile and pulled down the backside to take aim on the undefeated Barn CJ (Jason Bartlett) and was able to wear her down in the lane. Dozen was driven to the win by Buter and is owned by Diamond Creek Racing.  Dozen has now put together a three-race win streak.

The second division saw Barn Dreamer put the rest of the field asleep with a wire-to-wire, 2-1/4 length win in 2:01 ($2.90) with Bartlett at the helm. The daughter of Devious Man is trained by Steve Pratt. She earned her third Excelsior win of the year.

Starting from the rail in the next division was Shiv (Buter). One of the last daughters of Conway Hall went down the road to win in 2:03.2 ($3.60) for owners William Masterson, Albert Abdala III and trainer Mike Simons.

The finale saw Demin N Diamonds (Met’s Hall–Scarey Karie) score in a wire-to-wire effort for trainer-driver Phil Fluet in 2:03 ($2.50).

The 10-race card of predominantly 2-year-old fillies garnered over $514,000 in wagering with a per race average of $51,400.

The final Sire Stakes of the season at Monticello Raceway will take place on Monday (Aug. 28), when the 2-year-old trotting colts bring down the curtain on the 2023 season. Post time will be 12:10 p.m.