Dover: Double Deceiver, Warrawee Xenia beat favorites in Matron 3YO Trots

Double Deceiver and Warrawee Xenia came away with victories from the Matron Stakes finals for 3-year-old trotters on Thursday evening at Bally's Dover Casino Resort.

Starting from the pole in the $143,950 test for the colts and geldings, Double Deceiver (David Miller) stepped out quickly and tussled with Fast As The Wind (Dexter Dunn) and a three-wide King Of The North (Mark MacDonald). Fast As The Wind got the message and backed off to the pylons, but King Of The North drove on and took the top spot away from Double Deceiver beyond the 26 2/5 quarter.

King Of The North would go on to hit the half in 55 1/5 and the three-quarters in 1:23 3/5 and was unpressured on the rim as a first-over Temporal Hanover (Mattias Melander) was unable to reach him. No outside challengers meant Double Deceiver could bide his time on the inside, too, though, and Miller would fire him two-wide before they entered the lane. Once he had the clear racetrack, Double Deceiver was able to surge by King Of The North and went on to take the race by a length and a quarter in 1:52 4/5. King Of The North staved off a fast-finishing Keg Stand (Yannick Gingras) for second. Fast As The Wind was fourth, followed by Pour Mea Double (Tim Tetrick).

"Dave gave him a perfect drive today. He's kind of done that his whole life. He's always looked after him, and today wasn't any different," relayed trainer Carter Pinske. "He's a smaller horse; he can get around any track. He's raced at Yonkers and all over Pennsylvania and stuff like that. He's been at The Red Mile, too, but the track doesn't matter to him."

The victorious gelding is by Cantab Hall, was bred by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms, and is trained by Pinske for owners Pinske Stables and Makenna Pinske. Double Deceiver is an 11-time winner from 25 lifetime tries, has now pocketed $768,814, and returned $6.20 to win as the even-money favorite.

Double Deceiver is slated to sell at HIP 1507 on Friday at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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In the $135,300 Matron for trotting fillies, Venerable (D. Miller) and Raised By Lindy (Gingras) battled for early command, with Raised By Lindy finally relenting to sit in the pocket behind Venerable after a 26 2/5 opening quarter. 2-5 favorite Joviality S (Brian Sears) would then move first-over out third as Venerable neared the 55 4/5 half-mile station.

Venerable and Joviality S would lock horns through three-quarters in 1:23 4/5 and continued to duel around the last turn, but Venerable was able to put Joviality S away before they turned for home. However, Warrawee Xenia (James MacDonald), who had tracked Jovality S from second-over, fanned out three-wide and stormed past Venerable in the lane, winning by a length in 1:52 4/5. Venerable fended off Raised By Lindy for second, and they were followed by Virgin Mary S (Ake Svanstedt) and a fading Joviality S.

"It's one of those dream trips. It just works out. I was hoping I could land maybe behind Joviality, but then you risk if she moves to the lead or gets the lead then you're going to have to be first-up on her," said MacDonald. "It worked out great, but I don't take to take any credit. Bob McClure did the all the work and Mark and Shawn Steacy; I just was lucky enough to jump on tonight."

Trainer Mark Steacy also co-owns Warrawee Xenia, a Walner filly bred by Warrawee Farm, with partners Mark Steacy, David McDonald, Dale Larson, and Diane Bertrand. She has a record of 10-1-2 from 22 career starts, has now earned $201,348, and paid $18.00 to win as the 8-1 fourth choice.

"She's a very talented filly. She started off the year really good, but ran into a few bumps in the road. She's her own worst enemy. If she gets beat it's usually because she beats herself," offered Mark Steacy. "We slipped the hobbles on her a few weeks ago, and that just got her through the turns a little bit better and a little closer leaving. It worked out tonight. She showed that we didn't have to worry after all [about racing on a five-eighths-mile track], so that was good. Great drive by James, and as he said, Bob put the foundation in this horse. It's a whole team effort.

"That's it for this year. We'll rest her for a while and bring her back to race next year."