Dover: Type A, Illuminata victorious in Matrons for 2-year-old trotters

Type A minded his manners after making breaks in four of his previous five pari-mutuel starts and Illuminata pulled a 22-1 surprise in the Matrons for 2-year-old trotters on Thursday at Dover Downs.

With Yannick Gingras at the controls in the $167,200 test for the colts and geldings, Type A led his three rivals through fractions of 28 2/5, 58 2/5, and 1:27. In the lane Incommunicado (Scott Zeron) tried to surge past in the passing lane, but Type A remained in front and on-stride, prevailing by half a length in 1:55. Ethan T Hanover (Tim Tetrick) and Calle Palema (Ake Svanstedt) rounded out the order.

Trainer Nancy Takter also co-owns Type A, a colt from the initial crop of Southwind Frank, with partners Frank Canzone and Christinia Takter. Type A, who fetched $40,000 at the 2019 Standardbred Horse Sale, and has now won three times from eight attempts to go with a bankroll of $160,793, was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. and is out of the Andover Hall mare Up Front Laura (1:58, $65,102), making Type A a half-brother to the likes of Uva Hanover (1:52 2/5, $549,509). Type A was dispatched as the even-money second choice and returned $4.20 to win.

Illuminata (Svanstedt), making her Grand Circuit debut in the $189,600 contest for the fillies, did just what Type A did, as she shot to the point from post four, chopped out stations of 27 2/5, 57 3/5, and 1:26 1/5, and kicked home in 28 3/5 to upset the favorites. 15-1 shot Frankly My Dear (David Miller) worked out a pocket trip and was second, a length and a quarter behind the winner at the wire, and 1-2 choice Pub Crawl (Andy Miller) was third.

Svanstedt also trains Illuminata, a daughter of Chapter Seven, for owners Knutsson Trotting Inc. and Little E LLC. She now has a record of 2-1-1 from seven starts, and she has pocketed $127,415. Bred by Steve Organ, Ann-Karin Larsen, Tor Larsen, and Tor Jan Larsen, Illuminata was a $100,000 purchase at last year's Standardbred Horse Sale and is the first foal out of the Kadabra mare Traviata (1:57 1/5, $44,926). Illuminata paid $47.20 to win.