Meadowlands: Wild, woolly Goldsmith Maid final won by What A Bid Hanover

In a race that saw multiple lead changes and plenty of action, What A Bid Hanover and Ake Svanstedt rallied from off-the-pace to get her nose in front of Voguish and Luna Lovegood to capture the $455,000 Goldsmith Maid for 2-year-old trotting fillies at the Meadowlands on Saturday. There were three noses across the track and an inquiry, with the judges faulting neither Voguish nor What A Bid Hanover for locking wheels in the stretch.

R Dutchess and Panacea Hanover left from the inside spots, and that forced second choice Luna Lovegood into a tuck for Dexter Dunn in the early stages. Spicy Nice and Yannick Gingras also gained early position. R Dutchess fought off Panacea Hanover for control in the 27 3/5 opening quarter, but broke stride past that marker, putting Spicy Nice in control.

Dunn moved Luna Lovegood sharply to the front in the second quarter and passed Spicy Nice before that one broke stride. Luna Lovegood hit the half in 56 1/5 and tried to control the pace through the third quarter. Miss Belmar and Andy McCarthy got on the move at the half and was followed in the outer flow by Voguish and What A Bid Hanover.

Luna Lovegood had control at three-quarters in 1:24 3/5 but bore out noticeably in the stretch with Dunn urging her on. Voguish fanned wide off cover and started to close in on the leader, and Svanstedt moved wider with What A Bid Hanover as the three fillies were in close proximity through much of the late stages. With What A Bid Hanover seeming to have the most energy finishing, Svanstedt was unable to clear Voguish's wheel and briefly locked that one in the late stages. Once free, What A Bid Hanover rallied gamely to get her nose in front. Voguish was a determined second with Luna Lovegood another nose back in third.

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What A Bid Hanover survived the inquiry as the 7-5 public choice and returned $4.80 with the win.

Owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc. and S R F Stable, What A Bid Hanover, a daughter of Muscle Hill, was a winner for the third time in just seven career starts.

"She trained tremendous in Florida," said Sarah Svanstedt following the victory. "But she got sore, and we decided to give her time off and point for the end of the year."

That decision paid off well, with What A Bid Hanover finishing fourth from post ten in the Breeders Crown and now capturing the lucrative Goldsmith Maid in her final start of 2024.