Harness: Always B Miki fillies bring back memories of Most Happy Fella

There's a tendency these days to get overly excited when the final time of a race is announced. It's natural to think something spectacular has happened when a mile time gets posted and appears to shatter the imagination. The wonderment over time has become all too routine in the daily life of harness fans, and it leaves more questions than answers when it comes to what the numbers represent.

On way too many occasions those fractions and final times do not equate with greatness of a horse or a field, and too often they reflect the benefits of improved track conditions, equipment and to a small part the evolution of the breed.

That said, there are times when fractions tell just a small part of the story, and the details of effort, determination and class are clear to see on the track regardless of fractional times. Such was the case on June 17 to a large degree, with a pair of pacing females that evoked memories of mine from the past and suggested that maybe young sire Always B Miki is starting to replicate the stallion career of Most Happy Fella some 50 years ago in his ability to sire fillies and mares with greatness written all over every performance.

No matter how fast or how slowly Sylvia Hanover needs to go to win a race she manages to do so. No matter what kind of trip is thrust upon driver Bob McClure guiding the sensational 3-year-old miss, the results come out the same. It's not 1974-75 when Most Happy Fella's first crop hit the scene and produced two of the greatest fillies in Silk Stockings and Tarport Hap from a single crop, but it's beginning to develop along those lines after witnessing the first three crops from Always B Miki. While not trying to insult the quality that Perfect Sting possessed, Always B Miki's best horses may in fact be his fillies.

It's just that Sylvia Hanover is showcasing the speed and class that earmarked the careers of the great daughters of Most Happy Fella – and there were many of them – that routinely devoured the competition in quite the same manner. Whatever drivers tried to do to beat horses like Silk Stockings and Tarport Hap, they generally failed because those fillies that would grow into champion mares just did not want to lose and fought anyone that tried to defeat them.

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Most Happy Fella made his name as a stallion through those two brilliant fillies and did eventually go on to sire the great Cam Fella, who would extend the stallion line in one direction and Oil Burner, who through No Nukes extended in the direction that leads right to Always B Miki's male side.

So, nearly 50 years later, as stallions try to identify themselves in some fashion, Always B Miki has produced great fillies from his first three crops, something Most Happy Fella was not able to do, though it's safe to say the reputation of Silk Stockings and Tarport Hap was enough to carry him. Always B Miki's Grace Hill is now a 5-year-old, and, given how hard she needed to race as a 2- and 3-year-old, it's quite incredible to see how sound and determined she has become over time. Overshadowed, though quite competitive, during her prime stakes years, Grace Hill has advanced her game in a major way since joining forces with trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. Her class was on true display this past Saturday with a Roses Are Red victory at Woodbine Mohawk Park that was both effortless and dominant at the same time. Give kudos to driver Doug McNair, who rebounded rather quickly from an accident the race before, to commandeer Grace Hill to a most impressive victory. Owner Tom Hill continues his streak of owning champion fillies and being fortunate enough to, despite losing a few to injury, seeing one like Grace Hill race competitively now in her fourth straight season. Hill's Party Girl Hill and then the Always B Miki-sired Niki Hill are incredible fillies that did not have the benefit to remain healthy throughout their careers.

Injuries aside, when Niki Hill was right and on her game, there really wasn't anything that could stop her as she had speed, staying power and the will to win. A great filly, yes, but without the necessary stops on the Grand Circuit to put her in a class with those Most Happy Fella fillies mentioned above.

What's interesting about the rise of Grace Hill over the last nine months is the similarity in many ways to the Most Happy Fella line, as horses from that era tended to trend upwards and show marked improvement with age. We're living in different times, when 2- and 3-year-olds are forced to travel at much faster speeds during their infancy on the track and tend to suffer from that in later life. In the case of Grace Hill, she reminds me of the stalwarts of Most Happy Fella's career, namely champion Armbro Feather, who got stronger and tougher as she aged. Much like Armbro Feather, Grace Hill seems to be able to deal with any kind of trip and usually is going forward at the wire.

We all love to see records broken but to me the thrill in racing is watching horses like Sylvia Hanover and Grace Hill perform at a high level each time on the track and with a determination to win at all costs. What holds promise for this year and beyond to those fans that haven't had a chance to see Sylvia Hanover in person is her coming to the U.S. for some major races after a career that has seen her race over just one track in Ontario. Some might question if she's proven everything yet considering the lack of travel or track variation, and the only legit answer to that question is that she's proven everything she can against the horses she's raced against. A week ago, there was a question mark as the Fan Hanover represented a test against fillies she hadn't faced. Sylvia Hanover made good horses look powerless against her. If she continues along that path in 2023 and beyond, she very well may go down among the greats in the sport and give her sire a huge boost.