Dover Downs: Youaremycandygirl, Plunge Blue Chip score in Matrons for freshman fillies

New York-sired fillies took the pair of six-figure Matron Stakes finals for rookies on Thursday evening at Dover Downs, with Breeders Crown champion Youaremycandygirl taking the pace and Plunge Blue Chip scoring in the trot.

The filly pacers went for a purse of $174,400, and Youaremycandygirl (Yannick Gingras) would clear fellow Ron Burke trainee Strong Opinion (David Miller) for command past the 27 1/5 opening quarter. Youaremycandygirl got a soft second quarter of 30 seconds to reach the half in 57 1/5, and it was lights-out for the competition from there as she opened up through the 1:24 1/5 three-quarters and to the wire, which she reached in 1:52 1/5. Strong Opinion held second, 5 1/2 lengths behind her barn-mate, with Aims Whisper (Peter Wrenn) third. Burke trainee Majorsspeciallady (Matt Kakaley) was fourth, and Cuts Like A Knife (Tim Tetrick) completed the top five.

"She's a strong filly. She's been really good from the beginning, and she was great again tonight," stated Gingras. "She can race on any-sized track. The bigger the track the better for sure for her, but obviously she got around a half (in New York), so she's a top filly.

"The first great horse I drove was Darlin's Delight. She's always going to be very special to me. Darlin, you could do anything you want with her. This one's a little more of a handful, and she's bigger maybe. They're two top fillies, I'm not going to compare which one was better than the other. They're both great fillies."

Youaremycandygirl, trained by Burke and owned by W.J. Donovan, is a daughter of American Ideal who has eight victories from ten lifetime attempts to go with a bankroll of $714,545. Bred by Birnam Wood Farms, Youaremycandygirl was purchased for $150,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale and is the second foal out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare Sweet Lady Jane ($119,789). Sweet Lady Jane is a half-sister to Sweet Lou (Yankee Cruiser, $3,478,894) and Bettor Sweet (Bettor's Delight, $2,782,353). Youaremycandygirl paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 favorite.

Trainer Ake Svanstedt sent out four in the $173,000 filly trot, and he would drive 6-5 favorite Plunge Blue Chip to a 1:55 4/5 victory.

Plunge Blue Chip, who saw her undefeated run snapped in the New York Sire Stakes final at Yonkers last month, left for control from the outside post eight and took the group through fractions of 27 4/5, 58 3/5, and 1:27 2/5. She shook away from the first-over bid from fellow SvanstedtFotowonPlunge Blue Chip has gotten used to the winner's circle during her rookie campaign trainee Lucky Ava (Brian Sears) turning for home and went on to defeat pocket-sitter Perfect Summer K (Andrew McCarthy) by two lengths. Svanstedt charges rounded out the top five with S M S Princess (Tetrick) third, Lucky Ava fourth, and Natalie Hanover (Kakaley) fifth.

"I have driven her in every race so far, so it was easy to decide to drive her," Svanstedt said. "She can leave fast, and it was an easy race for her. She had not raced for many weeks, so she did good today."

A daughter of Muscle Mass, Plunge Blue Chip is owned by Svanstedt and breeder Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. Plunge Blue Chip, who has earned $194,833 and won seven times from eight starts, was a $42,000 Harrisburg buy and is the second foal out of the Donato Hanover mare Dunk The Donato. Dunk The Donato's dam Irene's Lucky Lady (Winky's Pine) is a half-sister to $3.5 million earner Mr. Muscleman. Plunge Blue Chip returned $4.40 to win.