East Rutherford, NJ — Test Of Faith, the 2021 Horse of the Year, trounced nine other distaff pacers to win the $175,000 Dorothy Haughton Memorial, for pacing mares, in 1:47 on Saturday (July 16) at The Meadowlands, breaking the world record for 4-year-old pacing mares.

Test Of Faith broke the world record for 4-year-old pacing mares with a 1:47 performance on Saturday at The Meadowlands. Lisa photo.

With David Miller in the bike, Test Of Faith took a casual approach early as a few mares in the 10-horse field flew from the gate. Earning the top spot from the herd was 60-1 outsider Grace Hill, with Racine Bell settling in the second spot and Gia’s Surreal taking third through a :26 first quarter.

In no hurry, Test Of Faith was still relaxed on the inside fourth at the :53.2 half. That’s when Miller put Test Of Faith into attack mode, launching into the overland route with powerful strides and into the 1:20.3 three-quarters before drawing away through a :26.1 final quarter.

Following the mighty mare from the moment she took to the outside, longshot Amazing Dream N was full of pace and took second, 4-3/4 lengths in arrears. Racine Bell caught the third spot.

Test Of Faith’s 1:47 win knocked four-fifths of a second off the previous stakes record, as set last year by JK First Lady. The 27-time winner spiked her earnings to $1,915,326 for trainer Brett Pelling and owners Melvin Segal, Eddie Gran and Kentuckiana Racing Stable.

Miller said he expected fast fractions:

“I just wanted to be close, try to have her in a good spot. When I moved her, I tried to hustle along in the last turn to keep Jason (Bartlett and Racine Bell) in, and that worked. Then I felt pretty good. Then I saw 1:20.3 and thought, ‘Eh…we’ll see.’ But I pulled her plugs and she paced all the way to the wire.”

Test Of Faith paid $2.60 as the overwhelming favorite in the field.