Records fall in sophomore Matrons

Fotowon Photos

Dover, DE — Dexter Dunn rewrote a sizeable chunk of the Dover Downs record book on Thursday night (Nov. 12), piloting both Amigo Volo ($3.20) and Party Girl Hill ($2.60) to track record performances in their respective Matron Stakes splits in the First State.

Amigo Volo’s 1:50.2 effort in the $162,350 Matron for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings earned him a place in the track and world record books, knocking over a second off Pinkman’s world record for sophomore trotting geldings taken in 2015 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

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The gelded son of Father Patrick strode to a clear lead over Coventry Hall (Andy McCarthy) and controlled splits of :26.3 and :54.4 while pursued — albeit futilely — by the first-over Play Trix On Me (Joe Bongiorno) to that point. With three-eighths to go, Amigo Volo began to shake away, reaching three-quarters in 1:23 and evading Back Of The Neck (Åke Svanstedt) — who circled three-wide into second — through the far turn.

In all, Amigo Volo amassed 6-1/2 lengths of clearance at the end of his record-breaking mile and 15th career win. Svanstedt trainees finished second through fifth: Back Of The Neck, Coventry Hall, Jula Trix Treasure (Yannick Gingras) and EL Ideal (Andy Miller).

Richard “Nifty” Norman trains Amigo Volo, who now has earned just over $1.5 million, for the Pinske Stables and David J. Miller. The two-time Breeders Crown winner completed a sweep of the Matron Stakes as well, having won as a 2-year-old in 2019 by the same 6-1/2-length margin.

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Party Girl Hill may have missed Kiss Me Onthebeach’s divisional world record by two-fifths of a second, but her 1:49 performance in the $154,450 Matron for 3-year-old pacing fillies landed her in the Dover record books.

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The daughter of Captaintreacherous yielded to third to stalk Priceless (Andy Miller) and Lyons Sentinel (Tim Tetrick) through a blistering :25.4 first quarter before making her move up the far side. When Lyons Sentinel edged out of the pocket at the :54.2 midway stage, Dunn slid Party Girl Hill second-over to follow live cover. Lyons Sentinel put Priceless away with five-sixteenths to go, and after losing cover, Party Girl Hill continued on to strike the front midway on the far turn before winning by a measured 1-3/4 lengths. JK First Lady (Gingras) rode the winner’s cover to finish second; Rocknificent (Scott Zeron) also benefitted from the outer tier and gained into third.

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Party Girl Hill, whose only defeat in 16 career starts to date came in the Breeders Crown, has amassed $880,345 in earnings — all this season. Chris Ryder trains the Tom Hill homebred.

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An early break by Hambletonian winner and even money favorite Ramona Hill prevented her from finding redemption in the $163,050 Matron for sophomore trotting fillies, and it also paved the way for Hambletonian Oaks winner Sorella ($5.40) to score the 10th victory of her career.

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Yannick Gingras used just a bit more than a :26.3 first quarter to work Sorella clear of early pacesetter Ab’sattitudexpress (Tetrick), before keeping the first-over Crucial (David Miller) at bay through a :58.2 middle half and evading a wide rally by 17-1 outsider Guinevere Hall (Dunn) to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:53.1. Ab’sattitudexpress finished third.

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Nancy Takter trains Sorella, who has now earned $848,362 in her career. Breeder Elmer Fannin shares ownership of the Muscle Hill filly with Crawford Farms Racing and Brent Fannin.

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The retirement of Tall Dark Stranger made the $179,600 Matron for sophomore male pacers far more wide open than most previous events within the division, and the late-blooming Cattlewash ($2.80) had to work for every penny of the winner’s share of the purse.


The son of Somebeachsomewhere had to exert himself through a :26 first-quarter duel with Tattoo Artist (Gingras) before clearing shortly thereafter — but once in control of the terms, David Miller had little opportunity to ration Cattlewash’s speed. After only managing to rate the half to :53.4, Cattlewash faced first-over pressure from Little Brown Jug winner Captain Barbossa (Joee Bongiorno) up the far side.

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While Cattlewash shrugged off Captain Barbossa’s challenge on the final turn, another pair of challengers were waiting in the wings to take their shots in the final furlong: Tattoo Artist launched for the open stretch, and No Lou Zing (Dunn) vaulted off cover. Cattlewash was driven out to narrowly prevail in 1:48.3. No Lou Zing lunged late for second over Tattoo Artist, who was fully extended to stay on.

Ron Burke trains 10-time winner Cattlewash, who has now earned $799,777 for owner-breeder Bill Donovan.


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