By Jay Bergman, DRF Harness
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ –
The 2020 Breeders Crown champion Lady Chaos had started the year slowly,
winning just once in seven tries. The Cantab Hall-sired filly found her “A”
game on Saturday night at The Meadowlands for driver Dave Miller, going
wire-to-wire in a 1:52.4 clocking to capture the first of two $35,000
eliminations for the Hambletonian Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the trot.
Miller had Lady Chaos
on her toes and drove to the lead alertly at the outset, seating You Ato Dream
in the pocket prior to the :27.4 opening quarter. From there, Lady Chaos was
able to rate the second quarter kindly in just :29.1 as 2-5 favorite Bella
Bellini and driver Dexter Dunn played possum not wanting to advance prematurely
and towed rivals into the fray.
Dunn pushed the ‘go’
button with Bella Bellini and the Bar Hopping filly hit high gear quickly and
looked to be trotting right past Lady Chaos as the two accelerated into the
final turn. Miller didn’t allow that to happen, and Lady Chaos drove on keeping
her rival at bay through a :27.4 third quarter.
In the homestretch, it
was a match race between the 8-1 Lady Chaos and the heavily backed Bella
Bellini with Lady Chaos gamely holding her position to the wire by a head and
earning post preference for the $500,000 final on August 7. Bella Bellini
settled for second with You Ato Dream third across the wire. Contested Hanover
and Scott Zeron weaved through traffic for fourth and Brian Sears had last
year’s Jim Doherty winner, Darlene Hanover, airborne in the closing yards to
earn the final spot.
Lady Chaos is trained
by Linda Toscano for owners Richard Gutnick, Tom Pontone, Joseph Lozito Jr. and
Enviro Stables. She returned $18.60 to win.
“She fought tonight,”
said Linda Toscano following the race proudly of her filly. “So I was tickled
with her. She’s an absolute pleasure to train.”
The second Oaks
elimination saw fillies coming from everywhere in the homestretch, but it was
Scott Zeron behind 24-1 shot Awesome Trix that found the shortest route,
skimming the pylons late to score the upset in a 1:52.4 mile.
There was action from
the outset as Dutiful left sharply along with Flawless Country and Iteration.
Dutiful put Flawless Country in the pocket early but parked Iteration to the
:28 first quarter before releasing her. Big City Pearl left from the outside
post 10 and found herself parked for Verlin Yoder, who sent the filly up to
challenge through the second quarter. Iteration and Big City Pearl were on even
terms through the :56 half with Flawless Country moving up with cover
second-over followed by Hot As Hill and 4-5 favorite Donna Soprano in the outer
flow.
Brian Sears had Iteration
in control at three-quarters in 1:24.1 but horses fanned across the track and
sought room between rivals. Iteration was brave fighting off challengers for
much of the stretch, but Zeron had been fortunate as the two horses he had been
following while fourth on the pylons at the three-quarters fanned out for room
that opened up the inside lane for Awesome Trix to utilize. Under Zeron’s
urging, Awesome Trix hit high gear late for the 1-length victory.
Iteration finished
second with Hot As Hill, Flawless Country and Piper Hanover following her
across the wire to earn spots in the rich final.
Awesome Trix, a
daughter of Trixton that cost $13,000 as a yearling, the least of the 10 in the
field, is owned by trainer Chris Beaver along with Aaron Merriman and Robert
McNerney. In winning for the third time this year, Awesome Trix returned $50.80
to win.
“She interfered a lot
as a 2-year-old but had high speed,” said Beaver following the win. “She’s
getting stronger this year and learning to go.”
