Meadowlands: Sylvia Hanover slays Twin B Joe Fresh in Perfect Sting

The darling of her class as a 2- and 3-year-old, Sylvia Hanover endured many defeats as Twin B Joe Fresh claimed the crown in the 4-year-old campaign in progress to a Horse of the Year title. But Sylvia Hanover returned in the fourth start of her 5-year-old season and landed a serious wallop on 1-9 chalk Twin B Joe Fresh to pull a stunner in the $116,500 Perfect Sting on Saturday night (June 28) at the Meadowlands.

Leaving from the pylon post, driver Tim Tetrick charged Sylvia Hanover to the fore and endured pressure from Aardie B Miki N through a 26 second first quarter before caving for a pocket ride. Tetrick then found himself shuffled to third when My Girl EJ swooped from a forward seat to the front of the train before a 53 4/5 half. Twin B Joe Fresh meanwhile raced fourth and angled first-up for a steady grind through the final turn.

Twin B Joe Fresh inched to within a length of My Girl EJ coming to three-quarters in 1:21 3/5 while Tetrick had room to swing into the second-over seat with Sylvia Hanover in the turn for home. Twin B Joe Fresh reached forward for the lead as Tetrick launched to the center of the track with Sylvia Hanover, and within a matter of strides she bolted past the reigning divisional champ to score a 10-1 shock going away by two lengths in a 1:48 2/5 mile. My Girl EJ settled for third and Valar Dohaeris closed for fourth.

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"She's just a great horse," winning driver Tim Tetrick said after the race. "She overcomes bad drives and she's tough. Speed doesn't really bother her – she's big, strong and can carry it. I went hard to the quarter to make sure they had plenty of speed, and I think she's just better if she wears them all out. That was just my theory on it and it continued to work."

Mark Steacy trains Sylvia Hanover, a 5-year-old mare by Always B Miki, for owner Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. She won her 23rd race from 43 starts, has now earned $1,927,219 and paid $23.80 to win.