Red Mile: Sylvia Hanover, McSeaside prevail in Bluegrass for 3YO filly pacers

Sylvia Hanover and McSeaside came away with top honors from the pair of Bluegrass Series events for 3-year-old pacing fillies that went behind the gate on Saturday afternoon at The Red Mile.

In the second $80,000 section, Always B Naughty (Josert Fonseca) led at the 27 2/5 opening quarter, but Yannick Gingras sent Strong Poison to the top from the pocket prior to the 54 2/5 half. Strong Poison still showed the way at the 1:22 1/5 three-quarters, while Sylvia Hanover (Bob McClure) stalled out in third after going first-up from fourth. Twin B Joe Fresh (Dexter Dunn) was on Sylvia Hanover's cover.

Despite not making much progress on the final bend, once they hit the stretch Sylvia Hanover went into her impressive top gear and rolled by Strong Poison inside the last eighth. Twin B Joe Fresh had dead-aim at Sylvia Hanover to the wire, but she couldn't get there, with Sylvia Hanover holding sway by a length and a quarter. Strong Poison wound up third.

"She made a little miscue in Pocono, but that was the sharpest I think she's ever been. She was super-sharp today and scored sharp, so I think maybe the travel shakes her up a bit. She seems to like it," offered McClure. "She doesn't do much wrong. She's pretty good. Now that you figure out what she likes and how she likes it, just abide by her rules and she'll do the rest.

"(Twin B Joe Fresh)'s a great filly. I'm confident that if my filly gets in front of her she's tough to get by for anybody, but that's definitely not the one you want stalking you the whole way."

Mark Steacy trains Sylvia Hanover, a daughter of Always B Miki bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, for owners Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc. Sylvia Hanover has a summary of 16-2-0 from 19 attempts, has put away $1,079,774, and returned $5.30 to win as the 8-5 second choice.

"It took a lot of pressure off for sure. She hadn't raced much since the mistake at Pocono. We got around the track last week versus aged mares at Mohawk but this was really relieving," Steacy said. "It takes a special horse to beat Joe Fresh because she's a special horse. Fortunately for us we have a special horse."

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Front Page Story (Tim Tetrick) led at the 26 4/5 opening quarter back in the first $79,000 split, but she would then end up third by the time they got to the 53 4/5 half as Vivians Dream (David Miller) and Mollop Hanover (James MacDonald) moved past her out of third and fourth. Mollop Hanover remained in front at the 1:22 three-quarters, with Front Page Story out first-over and McSeaside (Dunn) on her cover.

For most of the stretch drive it looked like Mollop Hanover was going to be the winner as she was able to stay clear from the pursuers, but she weakened late and McSeaside pounced, rallying past in the last stride to win by a nose in 1:48 4/5. High Fashion Star (Scott Zeron) closed well on the far outside to get third.

Bred by Andray Farm and Sergent Stables LLC., McSeaside is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Beasty LLC., J&T Silva Stables, LLC., and Knox Services Inc. McSeaside has ten wins, four seconds, and three thirds from 25 starts, has now earned $543,664 and paid $3.56 to win as the 3-5 choice.