Red Mile: New Year, Peaky Sneaky down favorites in Grand Circuit events

New Year and Peaky Sneaky posted upset victories in the pair of International Stallion Stakes divisions for 2-year-old pacing fillies that took place on Friday afternoon at The Red Mile.

In the first $119,000 flight, The Bethinator (Andy Miller) led to the 28 4/5 opening quarter, but pocket-sitter Reflect With Me (Andrew McCarthy) was already out and on the move, and she would take the lead at that point. Reflect With Me would go on to the half in 56 2/5, with New Year (Corey Callahan) coming first-over from fourth. Reflect With Me stayed in front ot the 1:24 1/5 three-quarters, but New Year had gotten to within a length of her at that point.

Reflect With Me turned for home first, but New Year wore her down in the lane and took over. New Year wasn't out of the woods after she made front, as JK First Lady (Yannick Gingras) rallied strongly from third-over, but New Year held sway by a head in 1:50 3/5. Reflect With Me faded to third.

"She made some good uncovered moves at Harrah's Philadelphia, so I knew she could handle it," said Callahan. "When we got alongside at the head of the stretch, I knew I had her."

A daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Drop The Ball, New Year is trained by Ross Croghan for co-owners/breeders Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Dana Parham. This was her third win from four starts, and she has now earned $83,680. A 10-1 shot, she paid $22.80 to win.

"She was the fastest horse I actually ever sat behind," Croghan said of New Year's dam Drop The Ball. "The owners they're very patient. The less you do at two, the more you get at three. The 3-year-old year is the big year. I was kind of leaving it up to the driver. I just said take a look, see what it looks like, and go from there. It was a game drive, and I wasn't sure if it was going to work. Very, very proud of the filly. She's always shown a little bit of grit.

The Breeders Crown is an option for New Year off this win, with Croghan saying, "It's possible. I'll talk to the owners."

Hidden Cove (Marcus Miller) launched away from the gate in the other $120,000 split, but Rocknificent (Tim Tetrick) came up to get the lead passing the 26 4/5 opening quarter. Gai Waterhouse (Gingras) then made a move from third to first past the 55 3/5 half, and she would be overtaken on the last turn by Lady Lou (McCarthy), leaving Peaky Sneaky (Dexter Dunn) first-over at the 1:23 1/5 three-quarters. Despite losing cover, Peaky Sneaky kept going forward, and she out-finished Lady Lou in the lane to win by a length and three-quarters in 1:50 3/5. Rocknificent wound up third.

"It was good. I'd never driven the filly, but (trainer Nancy Johansson) said that tries really hard and is game," said Dunn. "It was a bit of a battle in the straight, but she held them off good."

Johansson trains Peaky Sneaky, a Bettor's Delight-World Of Rock filly, for owners Howard Taylor, Judith Taylor, and Order By Stable. Peaky Sneaky, who was bred by White Birch Farm and sold for $100,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale, has a record of 2-1-2 from eight tries, and she has now put away $100,377. Sent off at 6-1, she returned $14.60 to win.

"She needed a bigger track. She's a Bettor's Delight, so she had the Ontario Sires Stakes up there, and they have some good overnight racing," remarked Johansson. "We started off kind of slow there, and then we moved her into the Ontario Sires Stakes. Then she went to the Champlain, and she kept surprising me, so I let her go in the She's A Great Lady. Then we just decided to take her down here because she needed to come to the clay track for a little bit."

--with quotes from Derick Giwner--