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    The early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks
The early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks
The early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks. Source: shutterstock.com/ru/g/Raul+Bigi

The early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks

Elista Hanover reinforced her status as the early favourite for the Hambletonian Oaks on August 3 with another impressive performance on Saturday night, July 20, at The Meadowlands. She claimed the first of three $42,192 divisions of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies.

After finishing third in her seasonal debut at The Big M on March 22, the daughter of International Moni-Evermore has won nine consecutive races. Elista Hanover, trained by Annie Stoebe, matched her lifetime-best of 1:52.3 on June 29 in a division of the Reynolds at The Big M. Her transformation as a sophomore has been remarkable, as she only won once from nine attempts in 2023.

In Saturday's race, driver Dave Miller positioned Elista Hanover fourth at the half-mile mark before advancing towards the leader, St Pauli Girl, at the five-eighths while racing first-over. She had two lengths to make up while third at three-quarters, which St Pauli Girl reached in 1:26.1. Elista Hanover then took the lead at the head of the stretch and pulled away to win by 5-3/4 lengths in 1:53.1. Miss I La finished second, with Kinesiology third.

"'Elista' never ceases to amaze me," said Stoebe, who co-owns the filly with R L Curry and Philomena Curry. "She is possibly the happiest horse I have ever trained. She does have more starts coming in than I would prefer, but quoting Dave [Miller], 'She just keeps getting stronger.' I couldn’t be more excited to go into the Oaks next week, especially with the confidence both 'Elista' and Dave have."

As the 1-5 favourite, Elista Hanover paid $2.40 to win, increasing her lifetime earnings to over a quarter-million dollars.

Crawford Farms homebred Honeys Sweet took the second split, clocking in at 1:52.1. Driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Tony Alagna guided the daughter of Chapter Seven-Corazon Blue Chip to victory as the 3-5 favourite. Honeys Sweet has now won six times from 16 starts, with earnings close to $250,000.

Upallnight Hanover, driven by Dexter Dunn and trained by Ake Svanstedt, won the third division in a lifetime-best 1:53.1. She raced from the four-hole to the half, went first-over heading to three-quarters, and held off the even-money favourite Spy Coast by a half-length. Upallnight Hanover paid $6.40 to win and has now earned just shy of $170,000 for Journey Horses Inc.

The lone $105,069 Tompkins-Geers dash for three-year-old colts and geldings went to Secret Agent Man, driven by Andy Miller and trained by Julie Miller. After the 6-5 favourite Bellas Musclehill broke stride while leading at the top of the stretch, Secret Agent Man won by one length in 1:52. He paid $7.20 to win as the 5-2 second choice and has now earned nearly $73,000 from three lifetime wins in nine starts.

21-year-old New Zealand native Carter Dalgety won his first Meadowlands race in his second attempt with Stonebridge Reef, clocking in at a lifetime-best 1:48.4.

Yannick Gingras led the driver colony with three wins on Saturday.

Racing at The Meadowlands resumes on Friday at 6:20 p.m., marking the first of the final four programs of the Championship Meet.

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