Who will vie for dominance in the sophomore pacing and trotting categories?
by John Berry
Just as we covered the 2-year-old trotters and pacers in the hopes that our elite voters for year-end honors could make their choices unquestionable, we do the same for our 3-year-olds.
But before we take a look at some outstanding sophomores, I’d like to open your eyes a bit, about how this grand sport starring the standardbred has changed in startling ways over time.
Time, of course, has many meanings but here are a couple of examples.
Our history goes back to 1788 when Messenger, an English thoroughbred stallion, came to our county and left a genetic hoof print for our grand breed.
The standardbred became known for its durability and speed in the early days as evidenced by world records on our books for distances up to 100 miles — yes, 100 miles — with three horses on the books for that distance, the last being the gelding Conqueror in 1853.
Yet another historical instance of durability can be found as late at the early 1950s when Abax raced at age 26, Baldwin at age 24, and many others with, in one instance, the 21-year-old trotter Lord Sherbrooke finishing ahead of his 5-year-old son, Lord Sherbrooke Jr. in a race.
The newest rules have a mandatory retirement age of after 14, although some horses may race an additional year in amateur events.
A 16-year-old trotter, Frosty Affair, did win at Pompano Park in 2004, the occasion being an amateur race.
And, yet, one final definition of durability came in the form of the gelding Tonymite, who made 107 starts in 1953 with 45 wins, 21 seconds, and 13 thirds with $2,296.93 in earnings.
In recent years — make that three decades or so — the new standardbred breed has evolved with much less emphasis on the above definitions of durability with many new foals focused on a racing career of just a few seasons, and frighteningly soon, there will not be (m)any standardbreds that aren’t considered royally bred.
That may be a bit fearsome and just like Artificial Intelligence invading one’s ability to earn a living, the 1:50 pacer and 1:52 trotter will face a similar fate.
Already, there have been many, many events where our standardbreds have hit the wire in 1:48-1:49 and show virtually nothing for their efforts, even with a final quarter in 26 seconds.
A couple of examples in 2025 are Somelousomewhere and Wavemaker, both having a 1:49.3 mark with the former earning $24,200 and the latter $43,785.
Yup, the 1:50 mile has become a ho-hum event and that’s too bad.
Remembering when the 2:00 miles were sacred compared to today’s atmosphere, the top 50 list of speed, plus ties, for this season begins at 1:46.4 and goes all the way down to 1:49.3.
One more note.
There are no references to breeding here as there are, of course, many great champions that are bred to be champions, and many bred to be champions that, well, you know, did quite make the grade.
Once they hit the racetrack — if they get that far — they prove their worth, or they don’t.
So, these reviews have no reference to their dads, moms, brothers, sisters, or grandparents.
Here, it’s their performances that count. Period.
3-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROTTERS
There were some really good trotting fillies in the division like Delaney Hanover, Conversano, My Debt Collector, and Stormont Beautiful, but they all played second fiddle to the incredible Yo Tillie.
She might not have been the fastest — Delaney Hanover was a tick faster in 2025 — but, since Yo Tillie’s win in her first sophomore start in the Garden State at The Meadowlands in mid-May (1:52.2) by 3¾ lengths, her devastating final punches race-after-race proved fatal to her competition.
Only one time did she taste defeat; at The Red Mile when her :26.2 kick home fell a neck short at the wire in the Bluegrass.
But she left no doubts when she completed her season with wins in the Breeders Crown elimination (1:51.1) and the $664,500 final in 1:51.3, closing out each mile with a final half in :55.1.
Leading up to that, she traveled to The Meadowlands, Lexington, Pocono, back to The Big M, back to The Red Mile, and finally, up north of the border leaving track dust in the eyes of her competition.
All in all, her scorecard reads 12 11-1-0 with $979,195 and a mark of 1:50.2 — :54.1 — :26.3 in winning the $250,000 New Jersey Classic.
Delaney Hanover was the fastest filly in her class at 1:50.1 and compiled a 5-1-2 resume in 11 starts, good for $449,064.
She was handed defeat by Yo Tillie on three occasions before upsetting the queen in late September, using a :26.3 final punch to get by Yo Tillie after being in the cozy pocket much of the way.
Ironically, after that upset win, her confidence exploded and Delaney Hanover won the $300,000 Kentucky Futurity in the aforementioned 1:50.1 and then went up to Canada where she won her Breeders Crown elimination, storming from eight lengths away halfway through the mile.
She wound up her season with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders Crown final won by Yo Tillie, 1½ lengths away.
Conversano, too, enjoyed a very successful season winning eight times in 13 starts and in 11 of those 13 finished on the tote board. She took her 1:51.2 mark at The Meadowlands in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks.
She closed out her season winning the $132,350 Matron Stake at Dover Downs in mid-November.
My Debt Collector hardly missed a heartbeat while never missing the boat with an 8-4-4 reading in 16 starts.
Much of her success came in NYSS events where she won rich events in the east and never missed a check.
Stormont Beautiful was off the radar screen much of the season after beginning her season in late April with a 2:00.1 win in a qualifies — the highlight being a :27 final quarter.
In fact, her first payday over $10,000 was in an Ontario Sire Stakes event where she earned $11,528 with a third-place finish.
She woke up the harness racing world a bit by winning a $100,800 OSS event at Woodbine Mohawk Park, trotting her last quarter in :26.2 in a 1:52.2 win.
In her Breeders Crown elimination, she was hot off the wings, got shuffled a bit, but closed stoutly to finish second back of Yo Tillie.
The $664,500 Breeders Crown just might have been her best performance of the year — even in defeat. She was 10th, and last, turning for home and kicked home in :26.1 — the fastest of all — to finish second to Yo Tillie, just a length away.
Her scorecard read 4-6-2 from 16 starts at season’s end with $361,955 to go along with that 1:52.2 mark.
3-YEAR-OLD COLT TROTTERS
On the boy’s side of the trotting ledger for 3-year-olds, Super Chapter, Emoticon Legacy, and Nordic Catcher S, were on the radar in 2025.
Super Chapter looms as boldly as anyone in this competitive group as this colt won nine times in 13 starts and was on the board in 13 of 14 starts.
Couple that with $1,236,099 in earnings to go along with a splendid 1:50 mark over the five-eighths-mile track at Pocono Downs and one can understand why he’s in the hunt to win in his class.
He wasn’t perfect and even missed the board on one occasion but, when he was on his game, he was awesome.
Highlights included a win in the $300,000 MGM Yonkers Trot from off the pace on their half-miler, a solid win in the $119,500 Dancer Memorial in 1:50.3 at The Meadowlands, a 1:50 win in the Beal at Pocono with a final quarter in :26.3, and a convincing six-length win in the $163,000 Matron at Pocono.
He was second in the Hambletonian, a length away from Nordic Catcher S, and in the Breeders Crown, and was third in that bang-bang finish in the Kentucky Futurity won by Emoticon Legacy in 1:49.2.
In the Breeders Crown, Meshuggah slipped through on the inside to snatch the win from Super Chapter in 1:50.1.
Super Chapter closed his 2025 campaign with that aforementioned win in the Matron.
Emoticon Legacy was seven-for-10 in the win column and earned $954,875.
It took four qualifiers to get him to the races this year and he quickly proved the wait was worth it by winning the Good Times at Mohawk in 1:50.2 on June 14, followed by the Zweig at Vernon Downs.
He won his Hambletonian elimination, by a whisker, but could do no better than fifth in the Hambletonian final as Nordic Catcher S took top honors there in 1:50.
Emoticon Legacy was a nose back of Super Chapter in 1:50 after cutting the mile in the Beal at Pocono but romped in his next start in the $115,431 Simcoe at Mohawk by 7¼ in 1:50.3.
He went on to win the $448,950 Canadian Trotting Classic in 1:49.4 and followed that in his next start two weeks later by trotting an opening half mile in :53.2 en route to his 1:49.2 mark.
He cut the hot panels in the Breeders Crown — three-quarters in 1:22,1 — and subsequently finished seventh to close out his campaign.
Nordic Catcher S just may have been on the track to stardom but an injury snuffed that out for now.
He won his maiden in a non-winners of 2 event at The Meadowlands, was second in the Reynolds and third in the Dancer Memorial, giving hints by trotting his last quarter in :26.1.
He won his Hambletonian elimination in just his fourth start and took a new lifetime mark of 1:50.3 in the process.
His claim to fame was solidly established when he out-gamed Super Chapter in the $1,000,000 Hambletonian in 1:50.
Following that race, it was noticed that he “wasn’t himself” and suffered a suspensory injury to end his season.
Hopefully, he’ll be found and on the track in 2026.
We’ll give Meshuggah, Maryland, and On To Norway a mention here. Meshuggah took the shortest route to the wire in the Breeders Crown, Maryland gets the nod for bridesmaid of the year winning $491,950 without winning a race — except a qualifier — and On To Norway, who made Indiana his home, finished second in his first start and then won 23 races in a row earning $587,844 to go along with his Hoosier mark of 1:51.2.
3-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACERS
There were 11 sophomore fillies that are on the list.
With that stated, here’s a look at our top 2025 3-year-old pacing fillies.
It’s difficult to dispute the season that Miki And Minnie had in her class as she won 13 times in 15 starts and was second in her other two trips back of the gate.
She won the All-Stars at Pocono to begin her season in earnest in mid-May and, a month later, won the $288,600 Fan Hanover at Mohawk in 1:48.3.
Back south of the border, she won the $172,6550 Jerry Silverman Memorial — erasing Mistletoe Shalee from history — in 1:48.4, capping the mile with a :25.4 final quarter.
The Tompkins-Geers, Shady Daisy, and Lynch followed and then, eventually, on to The Red Mile where she won a minor $80,000 sire stake in 1:50, noted because of a final panel in :25.3.
She won her Crown elimination in 1:48.2 over a very formidable Unreasonable with her final quarter, again, in :25.3 and was in an all-out war with The Last Martini in the $600,000 Breeders Crown final where the judges couldn’t separate the two at the wire.
She capped her season at The Meadowlands in the $175,000 FanDuel against older females with a 3½ length win in 1:49.2 with her earnings for the season vaulting to $1,123,824.
She wasn’t perfect, couldn’t quite reach Rodeo Drive Deo in a PASS event at Pocono early in her campaign, and Looksgoodinloulou caught her in a sire stakes final at The Red Mile — she was given a month off to freshen up after that — but she put masking tape on her competition by going undefeated after that.
The Last Martini, of course, deserves a mention off of her 15 6-3-1 scorecard and $652,439 in the bank along with her 1:49.2 dead-heat win in the Breeders Crown, tying with Miki And Minnie.
Her highlights included wins in New York in sire stakes events at Batavia and the Park MGM at Yonkers before her epic Breeders Crown thriller.
Unreasonable, who was very formidable throughout the season with an 8-4-2 ledger in 15 starts, won $549,302 this season and was the fastest of all the fillies with her scintillating 1:47.4 win in the $241,000 Garnsey Memorial at The Red Mile over Looksgoodinloulou.
She was sharp in KYSS wins at Oak Grove and The Red Mile and took the $200,650 Empire Breeders final at Tioga, putting defeat on The Last Martini.
Her performance in the Breeders Crown elimination was noteworthy as she was a fast closing second to Mini And Minnie, pacing her final quarter in :25.1.
She closed out her campaign with a win in the $130,250 Matron at Dover Downs.
Rodeo Drive Deo, won $618,082 this semester on the strength of a 7-6-3 card coupled with a mark of 1:50.
She took her mark in a sire stakes event at The Meadows but her claim to fame was at this year’s $305,000 Jugette over the famed Delaware Ohio County fairgrounds half-miler.
On a track where it very difficult to rally from off the pace, she brushed from sixth halfway through, made a huge double-bubble backside binge, and won handily in 1:51.
About an hour later, she took the final showing her durability by winning in 1:50.1, :27 last quarter.
Other fillies that caught my eyes were Odds On Chesapeake, Chantilly, and the aforementioned Looksgoodinloulou.
3-YEAR-OLD COLT PACERS
As for the 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings, the top 15 in the group speed-wise all cracked through the 1:49 barrier, and while we witnessed many awesome performances by the likes of Prince Hall Hanover, Sippinonsearoc, Madden Oaks, Captain Optimistic, Papis Pistol, Twisted Destiny, and Dandy Ideal, most of the print was focused on Louprint.
After a couple of winning qualifiers at The Meadowlands (1:52.3) and The Meadows (1:52.2) featuring a :54.2 sprint home, Louprint was off to the races in Pennsylvania Site Stakes action, kicking things off with a 1:49.3 win in early May.
A month later, it was North America Cup time with Louprint winning his elimination in 1:49.1, just a precursor to the $740,000 final, which he won in a bang-bang finish in 1:47.1, his last three-quarters timed in 1:20, and surviving an epic duel with Madden Oaks at the wire.
After that performance, and emergency surgery, Louprint wasn’t back in competition until late August—early September in PASS action, winning the $300,000 final in 1:48.4 at The Meadows.
On to the $550,000 Little Brown Jug where Louprint proved his agility on a half-mile oval by winning his elimination in 1:50.3 and then clinching in 1:50.1, :26.2.
It was then on to Lexington, 214 miles south and slightly west to compete in the $220,000 Tattersalls Pace where he scorched the burning hot Red Mile oval in 1:46.3, sealed with a final half mile in :53.
On to Mohawk for the Breeders Crown where he raced carefully off the pace and just did miss Dandy Ideal; Louprint’s final quarter of :25.4 was a whisker short.
All that remained to seal the HOY crown was the Breeders Crown final the next week and Louprint was “just not himself” that night and finished a disappointing eighth.
After that event, it was discovered that Louprint had suffered fractured ribs traced back to an earlier incident where he had gotten his front legs caught over his stall gate, a grand career ending in one-fifth of-a-second.
It didn’t take long for Louprint to be knocked from the top perch in the Hambletonian/Breeders Crown Poll as the aficionados sawed him off his perch faster than a :25.3 quarter.
Prince Hal Hanover had a magnificent season with eight wins in 21 starts with $830,560 and a mark of 1:47.2, while Sippinonsearoc won seven times with $792,375 and stopped the clock in 1:47.3, his seasonal best.
Dandy Ideal, who tattooed Louprint with that Breeders Crown elimination, had a notable 11-3-1 card in 19 starts and won $936,787 with his Breeders Crown elim mark of 1:48.
His major successes were in the $149,350 Matron at Dover Downs, the $112,500 Jenna’s Beach Boy at Hoosier Park, the $300,000 NYSS final at Batavia, and $300,000 Hempt at Pocono.
Captain Optimistic had a big year — $681,427 — with five wins and a mark of 1:48 and Madden Oaks earned $717,335 on the strength of six wins in 18 starts and a best 1:48.
So, we’ll close this 3-year-old review with one burning question yet to be answered.
Louprint has done more than enough to win the crown in his sophomore class, no doubt.
Had Louprint’s situation been noticed even one day, or one hour, or one minute prior to the Breeders Crown leading to him being scratched, would that have made a difference in the poll that followed, or, quite possibly, the Horse of the Year voting?
Remember, horses are made up of all ingredients that enable life, itself. They are not machines that run on electricity and/or batteries. They are not powered by solar energy and they, too, are mortal, just like all of us.
May The Horse Be With You!
