The top two fillies in North America were scheduled to meet in the June 14 Fan Hanover Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park, but the undefeated Chantilly had to be withdrawn, paving the way for Miki And Minnie to triumph. On Saturday, the $250,000 James M. Lynch Memorial at Pocono Downs will be the site for the first meeting, with the terms now a bit different following the first defeat of Chantilly in an overnight event at Woodbine Mohawk Park on August 8. The circumstances behind Chantilly's first loss - following 13 consecutive career victories - in her last outing suggest that driver James MacDonald was looking for a prep race in advance of the Lynch and drove the daughter of Big Jim more in a manner of a training mile than that of a betting race, despite the undefeated filly being sent off as the 1-5 choice. When MacDonald failed to pull the favorite to the outside following a soft opening-half, Chantilly remained boxed in-between horses for the remainder of the mile with a ton of pace and nowhere to go. It was disturbing to see last year's Canadian Horse of the Year pulled from the ranks of the unbeaten without making a clear move to contend. In the olden days, that kind of effort, or lack thereof, might have set off a fan revolt at a racetrack, but somehow in modern times it had a few angry complaints with most just turning the page to the next race. This is the next race on Saturday for Chantilly, and perhaps the biggest question from a competitive standpoint will not be that the Nick Gallucci-trained filly lost her last race, but more than likely how her effort came down to just a final quarter sprint between horses and not an effort where she was stretched out during the mile. Going back to those olden days again, there was a time where a prep race looked exactly like Chantilly's performance and involved just waiting to sprint the final quarter. In today's product horses must endure serious competition or pace throughout the mile to gain the conditioning edge required to go miles in sub-1:50 times. Look back just a few short weeks for vivid proof of horses that were prepping and racing in both the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks. The filly division saw Deja Blu, the regally-bred lass, sitting along the pylons in her elimination race and ripping a last quarter of 26 1/5 as a 22-1 outsider. In the $500,000 Oaks final, Deja Blu went off slightly under 5-1 odds but lacked the same finishing kick. The $1 million Hambletonian saw Nordic Catcher S do the exact opposite in his elimination heat. Driver-trainer Ake Svanstedt sent him on a down-the-road mission in the toughest of three trials and won in the fastest of the three events. A week later Nordic Catcher S was stronger than all the other horses that just bided their time until the final quarter. ♦ Get FREE Harness Eye PPs and analysis for the Sun Stakes Card + Watch it LIVE! Chantilly drew post six in Saturday's Lynch, part of an extraordinary Sun Stakes program with $2.3 million on the line. Carded as race 10 on the 14-race card with a 2:30 p.m. (EDT) start time, the $250,000 Lynch will likely be the marquee event given the two elite fillies in the field of eight. That said, the track will host the $300,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial and $300,000 Max C. Hempt for 3-year-old male trotters and pacers, respectively, as well as the $250,000 Delmonica Hanover for same-aged trotting fillies. There will also be two consolation events for each division. This will be Chantilly's first race outside of Canada and the first race over a five-eighths mile track, as well as her first encounter with Miki And Minnie. The post edge in this race will go with Miki And Minnie and driver Dexter Dunn. The Fan Hanover winner and last year's Dan Patch Award winner as the top 2-year-old pacing filly in the United States looks for her fifth straight stakes victory for trainer Chris Ryder. Defeated just once this year by Lynch rival Rodeo Drive Deo (post one), Miki And Minnie added Lasix after that defeat and has looked unbeatable since. In contrast to her Canadian Horse of the Year rival, Miki And Minnie has been engaged and involved in the pace, racing on the front-end and without cover during her impressive string of success stories. Without benefit of post position, Dunn has been forced to make multiple moves, and the daughter of Always B Miki has responded in kind with effortless scores where her quick and sustained speed have separated her from her rivals. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter In Miki And Minnie’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes score on August 7 at Harrah's Philadelphia, she overcame post seven with Dunn taking a tuck third in a 27 1/5 opening quarter. Content to give the leader the time to back down the pace for the opening-half, Dunn moved Miki And Minnie on the backstretch, and she responded with a back-half in 54 seconds and a coast-to-the-wire 1:49 4/5 victory over Rodeo Drive Deo, a talented filly that appears to have accepted second-place as the best results when facing Miki And Minnie. For the remaining five horses in the Lynch, there is always the hope and indeed the real possibility that the gloves from both camps will come off and a duel between these two outstanding pacing fillies unfolds. There is simply too much talent and hopefully too much on the line for either filly to give the other a breather along the way. Along with Rodeo Drive Deo, horses like Time Of The Season (post three), a 1:49 2/5 winner in the Adioo Volo on July 26 at The Meadows that finished third behind Miki And Minnie in her last start, could be a viable upsetter. Allegra Hanover (post seven) also won a division of the Adioo Volo in 1:50 2/5, but the Papi Rob Hanover-sired filly's six wins this year have mostly come away from top competition. Beach Babe (post four), Stevie Hanover (post five) and Millie May Hanover (post eight) are more than likely to get a good view of the top fillies in action during the mile as opposed to having a say in the outcome. It's a race we've been anticipating for a long time and hopefully the show these top 3-year-old pacing fillies put on Saturday afternoon will be of epic proportions.