Like Elista Hanover, trainer Annie Stoebe is ready for a good year
by Debbie Little
In Spanish, lista means ready, and that’s exactly what Elista Hanover was when she notched her first win of the year in the Grade 1 E.T. Gerry Jr. Hambletonian Maturityon July 12 at The Meadowlands.
The Annie Stoebe trainee was the 7-5 favorite from post 6 in the bulky 13-horse field of 4-year-old open trotters going one-and-one-eighth-miles.
Following a snappy first quarter of :25.1, driver David Miller put Elista Hanover — one of six mares in the field — on the lead just before the three-eighths.
In her prior two starts — the third leg of the Graduate (June 21) and Graduate final (July 5) — Elista Hanover had been beaten by a half-length and a neck, respectively, when she raced in come-from-behind fashion.
“Well, she won a ton of races on the front-end last year,” Stoebe said. “The 4-year-old transition is really tough, so we were a little bit more conservative with her the first couple of starts this year.
“Last week [July 5], when David went out with her, he looked at me and he said, ‘Annie, we’re in a tough spot [post 10]. And I looked at him, and I said, ‘David, I know, do what you can do.’ Even going out for the Maturity, I just told him, ‘David, have fun.’ Because as a trainer, I’m not the one out there making split-second decisions. And I trust David, I left it in his hands, and he felt that’s where he needed to be to win, and it worked out.
“They’re not motorcycles. You can’t say, ‘Okay, I’m going to be on the front every week,’ because in two or three starts, you’re not going to have a horse. Yeah, it would have been nice to win those other races, but she was perfectly prepped. Her ego was through the roof. She’s sound, and she was so ready that I think last Saturday, no matter the trip David gave her, she was going to win because she was so ready.”
Not only did the daughter of International Moni—Evermore easily win by 2½ lengths, she did so in a stakes-record time of 2:03.
“It was a stakes record, but she also went sub-1:50 [1:49.3 for the mile],” Stoebe said. “So honestly, that was the most confident I’ve ever been going into a race, just because of how she felt the week leading up. She was a fire-breathing dragon, not in a bad way, but she had a great week, and honestly, we drew really well and I thought this is her week to get it.”
Last weekend was a busy one for the Stoebe Stable that consists of eight racehorses, which are looked after in the barn by Stoebe’s boyfriend, Jeremy Morrison, alongside her and caretaker Martha Palafox.
“Well, we did the math, in a 68-hour period we were home for 10 hours,” Stoebe said. “When you have a weekend like that, honestly, we didn’t even feel tired until driving home on Sunday. The adrenaline, the excitement, it keeps you going and you just power through it.”
In addition to Elista Hanover’s victory, they also had one with 2-year-old trotting colt Diabolic Hill in the first leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at The Meadowlands. Palafox cares for both “Elista” and “Diabolic.”
“I raced five horses last weekend, and every single horse got a check,” Stoebe said. “Every horse made money.”
Elista Hanover, who did not race this week, will make her next start on Saturday (July 26) at The Meadowlands in a leg of the Miss Versatility.
“Well, the problem is, she’s only raced in one [leg], and they have to race in three to make the final, so there’s one on the 26th and then one on Sept. 5,” Stoebe said. “I mean, it worked out well, because this week was a really good week to give her a break after that effort, and then she’ll tighten back up on the 26th and be ready for Hambo Day [Aug. 2].”
Elista Hanover will be competing against just mares on Hambletonian Day in the Dr. John Steele Memorial, a route also taken by other top mares, like Manchego, in their 4-year-old season.
“So, I did that, not knowing the statistics, but it seems like that’s kind of a pattern that people chose to do with their top mares,” Stoebe said.
Elista Hanover is co-owned by Stoebe along with partners R Lynn Curry and Philomena Curry, who they call “Mimi”. In addition to the Steele, the Miss Versatility and Dayton Oaks are pretty much the only opportunities Elista Hanover has to race other mares in the next few months.
As if running her stable doesn’t take up enough of her time, Stoebe is quite involved on social media following a comment made by a good friend of hers that most trainers don’t have enough of a presence reaching out to the people.
“He said, ‘For two weeks, I just want you to post twice a day,’” Stoebe said. “After the first 10 days, Facebook reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, we want to verify you and give you a checkmark.’ And then about a week after that, they put me in the creator fund, and my Facebook is going viral. An average video has 7,000-to-10,000 views, some of them over 60,000.”
Stoebe quickly found out that a lot of those followers wanted merchandise.
“So, I was like, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right, work with a designer, do all that stuff, and that’s why my merch drop is such a big thing,” she said. “I had to create a website, and all the ordering is done on the website… You know, I’m really trying to bring new people into the industry, and Facebook is helping me so much.
“So, a lot of the time, I can’t respond to every comment, but I try to like every comment I get and interact with some, but it’s a little tough. But you know, bringing new people into the sport is priceless.”
Last year, Stoebe was part of the autograph session in the FanZone on Hambletonian Day and she hopes she’s invited again this year so she can spread the word amongst her followers and hopefully bring a lot of new faces to the event.
“My thing is we should be advertising that like, Dexter Dunn is going to be there signing autographs from this time to this time, come meet him, and Dexter needs to be tweeting this, because it’s getting the fans involved,” Stoebe said. “And that’s why I want to be involved, because I’m the person that three days before this is going to be posting it on social media. Let’s get these people out here, because not only do you get to meet me, but there are all of these other top trainers, top drivers, come get the autographs.”
This will not be the year when a ton of her followers will show up in Elista Hanover shirts because the merchandise won’t be shipped to them by then, but there’s always next year.
“I want to do something similar to the Siegelman Stable’s model. These shirts will only be for sale for probably a month, and then we’re going to do something else,” Stoebe said. “So, we’ll keep changing it up so that it doesn’t get stagnant.
“I mean, it’s marketing, but it’s also getting people involved and interested in harness racing, and it’s a lot easier to do when you have some nice, really cool horses to back you up.
“We have quite a few really nice horses for the size of our stable.”
For any that saw Stoebe in the winner’s circle following Elista Hanover’s Maturity victory, she was dressed to impress.
“I’ve been watching races from everywhere, and if you turn on races from New Zealand and Australia, everyone is dressed to the nines for those big races,” she said. “I want to be a good face in the sport, and if I’m racing for almost a half-a-million dollars, and I have an amazing horse that’s favored in the race, I want to look good, and I want to present myself as a top trainer in the industry. My mom always said, ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.’
“I mean, there’s been plenty of times when I go to the winner’s circle in my colors, because I have to go back out on the track after the next race. So, you know, in those situations, you can’t dress up, but I had the opportunity, and I wasn’t going to miss out on that. You know you have a chance to win, and you know those pictures are going to be all over social media. I want to look as good as I can, because I’m a face for the sport, and I want that to be a positive thing.”
Stoebe found out that popularity does come with a cost.
“The biggest problem with all that, and the people that notice, it’s like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to find something even better for Hambo Day,’” she said with a laugh.
As for what Elista Hanover will be doing next year, nothing is set in stone.
“Everyone asks me, ‘She’s red, so she’s crazy, right?’” Stoebe said. “I cannot stress enough that there’s no crazy in that horse. She’s just a love.
“With her breeding, I honestly believe she’s going to continue to get better with age. And you know, she’s probably the horse of a lifetime for both Lynn, Mimi and I, so, as long as she’s game, we’re having the time of our life.”
