At the end of 2022 there was little for voters to decide when it came to crowning the best juvenile pacing filly in North America. The title went to the Always B Miki-sired Sylvia Hanover following an impressive campaign that saw her win eight of nine starts culminating in a Breeders Crown championship over the best that night in October at Woodbine Mohawk Park. That said, the year ended with many racing fans, including this observer, wondering aloud just what might have been had a few other fillies been staked more aggressively, and in the case of one filly -- Beach Cowgirl -- how the year might have ended had the undefeated daughter of Captaintreacherous been able to continue her season. "She had a knee injury," said Joe Bongiorno of the filly he drove to four consecutive victories including a world-record 1:50 clocking in the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship at Harrah's Philadelphia in early September. While the injury kept her out of all late-season contests including Lexington's two-week Grand Circuit meeting, the Breeders Crown and the Three Diamonds, won by her stablemate Zanatta, it couldn't wipe out what the filly had done in her previous three starts, all Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races. "Training down we thought Zanatta was the best filly we had," said Bongiorno, who teams with his sister Jennifer in charge of 70 horses in training currently. "It wasn't that she didn't show talent, but that she only did what she had to do and did it easily." Bongiorno's view of the filly changed literally overnight though. "It wasn't until I sat behind her in that first baby race that I saw a difference," said Bongiorno, looking back on the second-place finish at Gaitway Farms on June 13. "She came a last quarter in 27 and change on her own. The next week I put her on the front end and she was even more impressive pacing home in 27 flat." The 1:55 2/5 qualifying mile in June once stood for something, but it's a routine time these days for many horses before they make their career debuts. Some three weeks later Beach Cowgirl made her first pari-mutuel start and it was something to behold. With fractions the filly had not seen before, Bongiorno kept Beach Cowgirl rated in fifth following a 55 3/5 opening half. At that point Beach Cowgirl moved to the outside and flashed a wicked burst of speed, seizing control and drawing off effortlessly in a 1:51 mile. "That race at The Meadows was just unreal," said Bongiorno, still quite surprised by how easily the filly had gone from 1:55 to 1:51, this time beating stakes-quality competition. Bongiorno was careful to keep her off the pace in her next two Sire Stakes victories with the obvious knowledge her high turn of speed could catch most any filly in training. That led to an epic performance on September 4 in the Sire Stakes final, but unfortunately that would be the final time racing fans would see the gifted gal. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter "She was turned out following the surgery," said Bongiorno. "She's been swimming and she finally came back into the barn just a day ago. She looks great." For Team Bongiorno, the emergence of Beach Cowgirl along with Three Diamonds winner Zanatta was the icing on the cake to a great year for the brother-sister duo, and it perhaps sets the pair on a new course in 2023. "There's a lot of stables out there that start with 60 babies. We started last year with just 12 and I think we had maybe two of the top three pacing fillies in North America," said Bongiorno. "Zanatta had been having some minor issues with bleeding at The Red Mile and again when we raced her in the Breeders Crown. She raced great in the Crown, but we just didn't have a chance." Zanatta was last through a pedestrian opening half in the Breeders Crown and did close rapidly for sixth place. "I think she went her last three quarters in 1:21 and change," Bongiorno said. Zanatta added Lasix for her final two starts and turned her game around dramatically, winning a Three Diamonds elimination at The Meadowlands on November 19 in 1:52 and returning a week later with an epic 1:50 1/5 effort in capturing the $428,400 final. Bongiorno's claim to having two of the top three fillies is likely to be challenged by the connections of a few others in this class, most notably 2022's fastest pacing filly Twin B Joe Fresh, who like Beach Cowgirl didn't make it to the big dance but did manage to win eight of her 10 races including the New York Sire Stakes championship and the Kentucky Championship within an eight-day period. What happened in 2022 in this division we can only hope is an anomaly. Sylvia Hanover managed to race all nine starts at the same track, avoiding any potential shipping issues. Twin B Joe Fresh spent much of her season back and forth between New York and Kentucky. Beach Cowgirl made just four starts but did travel throughout the extremely wide state of Pennsylvania in the process. That these three fillies never met in a race is something that hopefully will change in a major way in 2023. Along with the prized pacing fillies, the Bongiorno's could have an expensive "sleeper" on their hands in the form of the $300,000 Lexington Selected purchase Bella Ciao, a daughter of Muscle Hill that showed glimpses of serious talent in a handful of 2022 starts. "We took our time with her," Bongiorno said, reflecting on the September 9 debut, a 1:55 2/5 win at The Meadowlands. "Everything went wrong in Kentucky," Bongiorno said. "We were unable to turn her out down there like we did in New Jersey. She's a nervous filly." With Joe unable to control Bella Ciao, she made breaks in her final two starts before being turned out for the remainder of her 2-year-old season. "She's got plenty of speed. Hopefully we can get her to relax better," said Bongiorno of the filly that is probably worth her weight in gold as a potential broodmare, hailing from the immediate family of Bella Bellini. Turning to the racehorse side of the stable, Bongiorno spoke briefly about Nicholas Beach, who is in-to-go Saturday (February 4) at The Meadowlands. "We had a tough time keeping him sound last year," Bongiorno said. "We raced him once at Yonkers and he drew post eight but finished his mile well." Asked if Nicholas Beach will return for this year's Borgata Series at Yonkers in March, Bongiorno said, "No, I think that may have been part of the problem." The Bongiorno's are not likely to nominate any for that series. "I got a call from Ken Jacobs and he asked me to drive a couple of his that are going in the Borgata," said Bongiorno, who guided American Dealer N to a third-place finish Monday night (January 30) in the Yonkers $36,000 feature. Bongiorno was quite enthusiastic not just about the 3-year-olds returning but a dozen or so 2-year-olds in training. "We've got a nice Muscle Hill colt that's a brother to Robertsin," said Bongiorno, "And a filly that we like out of Agent Q. They're going well right now." It's only February but the young ones are starting to heat up for the Bongiornos, who probably can't wait until spring.