Heading into the Gold Series opener for the two-year-old pacing fillies on Tuesday (July 7) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, trainer Tony Beaton had a feeling that Bet On Becky might be exceptional.
“She’s just been one of those special fillies you know,” said the trainer. “We were kind of talking the other day and we were saying, like we were kind of hoping she’s like Chantal’s (Mitchell) Alicorn from last year, that type of horse, it sure would be nice.”
That speculation proved to be well-merited as Bet On Becky romped to a 1:50.4 victory in the second $72,266 Gold division, faster than any two-year-old in North America has paced this year and just one-fifth of a second shy of the Ontario Sires Stakes record set by division champion Alicorn last season. The filly’s stablemate Best Keepsake finished three-and-one-half lengths back in second with Game Of Shadows finishing third.
“She was one of the ones that, not to take away from the other fillies I raced tonight -- they all had their turn -- but there’s just certain training miles, like wow, this thing, it’s just got more speed than you can shake a stick at,” said Beaton, who sent a total of four fillies behind the gate and went home with one win, one second, one third and one sixth. “And she’s just a little thing, probably no bigger than Alicorn was last year, but just a nice little ride. She reminds of a little sports car.”
Bet On Becky competes for owners for Larry Menary, Kenneth Ewen, Alan Alber and Michael Guerriero. The group offered up $70,000 for the daughter of Bettors Delight at last fall’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and have already recouped more than half from Tuesday’s victory and a 1:54.4 win in overnight action on June 26.
The other two Gold Series divisions went to Dr. Ian Moore trainees Alumni Seelster, in rein to Sylvain Filion, and Andra Day, who was piloted to the win by Doug McNair.
Alumni Seelster opened the two-year-old pacing filly season with a 1:52.2 clocking that saw her do most of the work up front and then hang on for a three-quarter length victory over favourite Sports Check. Beaton trainee Ring Of Kerry finished third.
“She’s all heart, and all desire, there’s no doubt about that,” said Moore, who also campaigned the filly’s sire, $2-million winner State Treasurer. “I’m really pleased because of State Treasurer. He didn’t get much support and yet to me, if I was a breeder, he was a hell of a horse and he’s the type of horse you’d love to have.”
A $50,000 purchase out of the London Selected Yearling Sale, Alumni Seelster is owned by Sally MacDonald and Paul MacDonald. The filly qualified twice, on June 12 and 19, and Moore thinks she will be even sharper for the second Gold Leg on July 19 at Georgian Downs.
“I think Alumni is going to get better -- that other division went in 1:50.4, that’s quite a mile -- I think our filly is going to get better because it’s been almost three weeks since she qualified and I only trained her once, last Tuesday, so I felt that she was little short, she could have been a little tighter going in maybe,” explained the Cambridge resident. “But I don’t like to over-train babies, not after they’ve had such a hard campaign training down, I like to go easier on them now.”
Alumni Seelster’s training partner Andra Day also spent most of the mile on the front, hitting the wire one length ahead of Sunshine Nelly and favourite Postscript in 1:54.1. Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC share ownership of the Shadow Play miss who Moore also expects to improve off her first lifetime start.
“She’s a good little filly too and I expect her to get better,” said the trainer. “Alumni Seelster, Andra Day and Lady Arthur, who is going to Ohio on Saturday, they all trained together and those three fillies got so tough at the end we couldn’t train them together until we were going fast, because you couldn’t hang on to them. All they wanted to do was rock and roll every time.
“A good way to start with the fillies, I’m really pleased,” he also said.
Co-featured on the card was a $36,000 Preferred Handicap Trot won with a dominant performance from Hey Livvy. A recap to that event can be found here.