Annie Stoebe’s Elista Hanover and Diabolic Hill take new marks ahead of Breeders Crown finals
by Melissa Keith
Among a four-horse field of A-listers Friday (Oct. 18) morning at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Elista Hanover (4, Q1:51.1s; $910,508) proved herself more than ready for the Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot. Eliminations were not required for next Saturday (Oct. 25) night’s older distaff trot final, so 4-year-old mares Elista Hanover, Drawn Impression, and Emoji Hanover qualified against 6-year-old stallion Periculum, whose connections accepted a bye into the Open Trot final.
Elista Hanover, in line to regular driver Dave Miller, quickly opened up by more than four lengths by the :28 flat opening quarter, holding Periculum easily at bay the remainder of the mile, through fractions of :56, 1:24, and 1:51.1s. The display was as flashy as the chestnut mare herself, a former $240K Harrisburg yearling. She is owned by R L Curry and Philomena Curry of West Chester, PA, along with trainer Annie Stoebe of New Egypt, NJ, who spoke with HRU about the qualifier later on in the Mohawk paddock.
“Well, she has had bad posts her last couple of starts and had been parked and everything,” said Stoebe, standing alongside her other 2025 Breeders Crown finalist, 2-year-old trotting colt Diabolic Hill (2, 1:53.1s; $147,344). “I think she was just happy to be on the inside. David [Miller] said she was ready to go and he just let her roll, and then the time popped up and I’m like, ‘I wish that was in a race!’”
As for Elista Hanover’s new lifetime mark, Stoebe said it took nothing out of the freewheeling mare. The 1:51.1s win equaled the fifth-fastest mile by a North American trotting mare this season.
“[Miller] said that was the best she’s felt all year,” said the trainer. “For her, with a mare like that, you don’t want to grab and fight with them too much when they’re feeling that way. She has her opinions and she did her thing today.
“She absolutely loves her job, and she was pulling away in the stretch. That was all her; David was just sitting there. She’s definitely ready and sharp for next week.”
Elista Hanover (International Moni—Evermore) drew post 7 for the Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot final.
“Yeah, it really made me wish that there were eliminations,” said Stoebe. “But you know what? The 7 here isn’t nearly as bad, so I think she’ll be fine there. Not too shabby.”
Diabolic Hill has post 3 in the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt and Gelding final on Friday (Oct. 24) night. Like his stablemate, the Muscle Hill—Crysti Dream colt trotted to a new lifetime best in his latest mile. In his case, it was an Oct. 17 elimination win at Mohawk, leading at every call for driver Todd McCarthy. The fractions were :27.4, :58, 1:25.3, and a 1:53.1 personal best.
“Yeah, I actually didn’t even realize that was his new lifetime mark,” said Stoebe, who had just planted a kiss on the colt’s muzzle. “That’s fantastic!”
Stoebe shares ownership of the former $300K Lexington yearling Diabolic Hill with Mazza Racing Stables LLC of Loxahatchee, FL.
“To have two horses take lifetime marks before finals is huge,” Stoebe said. “I’m confident with them being ready for next week… Elista is the princess and the diva. It’s all on her terms, but she is so sweet and kind about it. Diabolic is the man of the barn and lets everyone know. He’s very playful and funny, and he really does enjoy the other horses.”
Stoebe is a rising star who started her training career in 2017. She actually drove her first winner as a trainer: 64-1 longshot Uriel (4, 1:53.4f; $319,287) and Stoebe wired going away in the GSY Club “B” division trot at The Meadowlands on Dec. 28, 2017.
“I have 10 horses in training and I have three in the Breeders Crown,” she said. “I don’t know [if it’s a record for a small stable], but it’s exciting. This will be my fourth year in a row at the Breeders Crown. I started with Instagram Model [2, 1:53m; $548,086] and then it’s continued on.”
This year is Stoebe’s best by earnings. Her small but mighty stable has 12 victories from 53 combined starts as of Oct. 20.
“So far! I’m hoping to keep improving,” the trainer said.
Coming to Canada for this year’s Breeders Crown did not present any difficulties for Stoebe, who said she planned ahead.
“For me, I hire a Canadian shipper, and they are very fantastic in catering to us, knowing the differences [bringing racehorses across the border], so I’m very, very grateful for that,” she said. “They make it easy. We’re staying at Dale Devine’s, that’s who shipped us… He has a private farm [in Puslinch, ON]. I’m big on turnout for our horses, so they’re still turned out every day. Nothing changes.”
Stoebe herself is staying close to her horses ahead of the Breeders Crown finals. Her third Mohawk entrant, 3-year-old trotting filly Pink Chou Chou (2, 1:56s; $217,375) unfortunately broke stride and finished ninth in her Oct. 18 elimination.
“My world is revolving around these three horses until the finals,” she said. “Out here, I’m doing everything from cleaning stalls, putting [horses] away, track work — everything — on my own. My boyfriend Jeremy [Morrison], who is also my second trainer, is up here helping me.”
Although the workload and pressure might be overwhelming for some trainers of small stables, that’s not the case for the energetic Stoebe.
“Having a small number of horses, I’m able to have such a personal relationship with every single horse in my barn,” she said, rubbing the neck of the well-mannered colt beside her. “I know that it’s Diabolic [Hill], but I can still come up and kiss him, because I’m his mom.”
