Senorita Palema Becomes Fastest Two-Year-Old Trotter in Monticello History

August 15, 2023

Monticello, N.Y. – Monday afternoon at Monticello, fans witnessed the fastest mile ever for a two-year-old trotter, regardless of sex, in the track’s storied 65-year history when Senorita Palema trotted to a new track record of 1:56.4. It was one of the most impressive and dominant scores in recent memory at the Mighty M. Sister Mary Maude extended her streak of perfection to four consecutive wins in New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) competition. The group of freshmen trotting fillies were well-behaved, with the ten-race card featuring three divisions of Sire Stakes, with each dash worth $35,200, and three $20,000 Excelsior Stakes dashes.

The race of the year was Race 8. The final split of Sire Stakes was a six-horse contest. When the gate left, so did the favorite, Senorita Palema. Once on the lead, she never looked back, extending her margin at every panel. She trotted the opening panel in a brisk 28.3 and had three lengths on the pack. The lead remained the same at the half in 57.4. From there, it was an exhibition of awe. The next panel, she was up by six. She had nine lengths on her closest competitor at the top of the stretch and from there, she kicked in the afterburner and was on top by two city blocks to win by 14 lengths in a new track record of 1:56.4. Driver Mark MacDonald did an excellent job in refraining the filly from going faster as he controlled her tempo as much as possible. She was under wraps and still had plenty of trot in her.  Jeannies Action (Stratton) was second, followed by Karolina Solveig (Bongiorno). The noble gaited daughter of Chapter Seven – Tosca showed today she was worth the hefty investment of $150,000 as a yearling acquisition for trainer Ake Svanstedt. In four starts, she now has two wins and two seconds in the tough NY Sire Stakes circuit, with seasonal earnings of over $64,000. She is owned by Bender Sweden Inc. of Vero Beach, Florida.

The first race was a short field of four New York Sire Stakes worth $34,500 with the scratch of Billie E. Sadbirdstillsing (Buter) had the lead in the opening panel in 29.4 and set the tempo throughout. Seven Year Itch was fourth and last at the half in a soft 1:00.3. Positions remained unchanged until the 5/8 marker, when Jordon Stratton came over. In the paddock turn, Seven Year itch was almost head-to-head with the leader. It was a horse race to the wire, and took a photo to decide the tight finish, with Seven Year Itch ultimately taking home the win in 2:00.1 – $6.10. The daughter of Chapter Seven – Royal Lady is trained by Vernon Beachy.

The Ron Burke-trained Sister Mary Maude extended her win streak to four in a row in NYSS competition. The daughter of Crazy Wow – Perfect Mass took the lead past the opening stanza and never looked back for driver Joe Bongiorno, finishing in 1:58.3 – $2.90. Star Attraction (MacDonald) was second, followed by Erin (Daley).

In Excelsior action, Dozen, a Marcus Melander daughter of Chapter Seven – Sequin, sat third most of the mile and pulled down the backside to take aim on the undefeated Barn CJ (Bartlett) and was able to wear her down in the lane. Dozen was driven to the win by Tyler Buter and is owned by Diamond Creek Racing of Wellsville. Dozen has now put together a three-race win streak.

The second division saw Barn Dreamer put the rest of the field asleep with a wire-to-wire two length win in 2:02 – $2.90 with Jason Bartlett at the helm. The daughter of Devious Man is trained by Steve Pratt. She earned her third Excelsior event of the year.

Starting from the rail was Shiv (Tyler Buter). One of the last sons of Conway Hall went down the road to win in 2:03.2 – $3.60 for owners William Masterson and Albert Abdalla III and trainer Mike Simons.

The finale saw Demin N Diamonds (Mets Hall – Scary Karie) score in a wire-to-wire effort for trainer-driver Phil Fluet in 2:03 – $2.50. Jordan Stratton had a driving double on the afternoon. The nine-race card of predominantly two-year-old fillies garnered over $514,00 in wagering with a per race average of $51,400.

The final Sire Stakes of the season at Monticello Raceway will take place on Monday, August 28, when the two-year-old trotting colts bring down the curtain on the 2023 season. Post time will be 12:10 p.m.

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