The Meadows: Fashion Annie hopes to build on sparkling career debut in PA Sire Stakes

Young trotters often are reluctant to pass rivals during a race, so when a 2-year-old makes up a seven-length deficit over the back half -- final quarter in 28 3/5 -- to win her career debut, she may be a youngster worth watching.

We'll get to watch that filly Friday at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows when Keystone Annie steps up to a $151,668 Pennsylvania Sires Stake. The card also features a $60,000 PA Stallion Series event for freshman filly trotters. First post is 5:10 PM.

If Keystone Annie is precocious, it shouldn't be a surprise. Her dam, Fashion Athena, won three of her first five career starts and also took PASS and Keystone Classic splits at The Meadows at 2. She finished fifth in the final of the Hambletonian Oaks and retired with a bankroll of $308,290.

Fashion Annie also is a half sister to Millies Possession who, at 3, won her Breeders Crown elimination at Woodbine Mohawk but, in so doing, suffered a broken coffin bone that forced her retirement.

"From Day 1, she's had a good gait and a good attitude," says Jim Campbell, who trains the homebred daughter of Donato Hanover for Jules Siegel's Fashion Farms LLC. "There hasn't been too much drama with her, which is always a good thing.

"Will she show speed Friday? That's up to the driver, but she's just getting started, and you want to try and avoid bad experiences for them.

"She was very impressive that first race. Hopefully she'll keep advancing as she goes along. We'll be concentrating on Pennsylvania stuff, but she has lots of stakes to go for. The idea is to bring her along in Pennsylvania and see how she develops from there."

Keystone Annie leaves from the post 5, race 8, with Dave Palone aboard.

Yet other fillies to watch Friday are Brunella (race 6, post 2) and Bella Macchiato (race 8, post 6). One of harness racing's most famous retirees, Hall of Famer Jimmy Taker, is coming off the bench to drive those youngsters for his daughter, Nancy Takter, who trains both.

-edited release (Evan Pattak for MSOA)