by Evan Pattak, for The Meadows

Washington, PA — Freshman filly trotter Sonnet Grace has won all four starts — each of them a stake — in her promising career. On Tuesday (Aug. 7) she’ll try to stay perfect in a $185,836 Pennsylvania Sires Stake at The Meadows. The event will cover the first four races, with Sonnet Grace leaving from post five in race one with owner/trainer/breeder Rod Allen in the sulky. First post is 1:05 p.m.

Chris Gooden photo

Freshman filly trotter Sonnet Grace has won all four starts in her promising career.

Allen had every reason to expect good things from Sonnet Grace, a daughter of Muscle Massive-I Believe; she’s a granddaughter of CR Kay Suzie, a Hall of Famer who won more than $1.6 million for Rod Allen and his late father, Carl Allen, also a Hall of Famer. As a broodmare, CR Kay Suzie produced such top performers as CR Excalibur ($463,412).

“Right now, she’s behaving herself well for a 2-year-old,” Allen says. “She has size and acceleration. I’ve not had too many big horses that have acceleration like hers. She has a good enough set of lungs so that road traffic shouldn’t be an issue.”

Allen acknowledges that a lot of things have gone her way — particularly draws. Because her stakes have been split into multiple divisions with relatively small fields, she’s never had to leave from a post deeper than five.

“She’s meeting every challenge,” he says, “but things will get tougher. These babies have just so many starts in them, so I’ve been limiting her training miles. We’re in good shape right now.”

As for comparisons to CR Kay Suzie, those may wait until later in the season, when Sonnet Grace is scheduled to face the best in her division in rich stakes.

“She doesn’t have the same qualities as ‘Suzie,’ but she’s more level headed. It’s nice to have a 2-year-old that’s well behaved. It makes my job a lot easier.”

Also set for the PASS is Scirocco Donnahill, who, but for a tough half-length defeat in a PA All-Stars division, would be a perfect four-for-four as well. The daughter of Muscle Hill-UF Tadys Donato has exceeded the expectations of trainer John Butenschoen, who cautioned owners Lewis Whitaker and Kathleen Whitaker that they might be overpaying when they gave $115,000 for her at auction.

“She’s from the really good Tadys Comer family in Ohio, which has produced solid horses for a long time,” Butenschoen says. “I had her pegged for $75,000-to-$80,000, but the owners wanted her and kept on going.

“She’s the first Muscle Hill filly I’ve trained. She’s smart, good gaited and takes care of herself. She’s staked to everything, but we don’t want to over-race her. We’ll figure out a game plan for her to make sure she stays healthy and sound.”

Scirocco Donnahill goes from post six in race two with Dave Palone driving. Butenschoen will send out two other fillies: Ladylilli (race three, post six, Charlie Norris) and Sabrina Deo (race four, post seven, David Miller). Both will be newly rigged with hobbles.

“They’ve made some miscues, and I haven’t been able to pinpoint any cause,” Butenschoen says. “So we’ll go with hobbles to give them and their drivers confidence.”

Freshman filly trotters also are featured Monday at The Meadows in a $100,000 PA Stallion Series stake. First post is 1:05 p.m.