One horse showed front-end grit and determination, while the other closed from what seemed like an impossible spot. Regardless, both trips added up to stakes scores on the Hambletonian Day undercard for the Brittany bred/raised/sold pair Bettor’s Wish and Reflect With Me.

 

Picking up the lead past a :25.3 quarter and into a :52.1 half, Bettor’s Wish held on gamely and proved that he’s currently atop the FFA mix with a 1:47.3 win by a neck in the $229,260 Sam McKee Memorial. (Watch race/Harnesslink)

 

The Meadowlands and TVG’s “Main Event” for pacers was Bettor’s Wish’s second victory of the year, with his other win coming in the Graduate Series, also at the Meadowlands.

 

Last year’s Dan Patch Champion “3-Year-Old Male Pacer of the Year,” who had been doing double duty of standing stud while in training for this year, surpassed $2-million in earnings with the McKee score and equaled his 1:47.3 career record.

 

The son of Bettor’s Delight-Lifetime Star is owned by trainer Chris Ryder, Bella Racing, Fair Island Farm and Bettor’s Wish Partners and driven by the Meadowlands leading reinsman, Dexter Dunn.

 

The “stone closer” win on the day belonged to the Captaintreacherous-Remember When filly Reflect With Me p,3,1:48.2 ($670,384), who used a :26 kicker from her spot in fourth at the 3/4 pole to score in 1:48.3 in the $90,525 Shady Daisy. (Watch race)

 

The Breeders Crown 2YO Filly Pace Champion of last year now sits squarely atop the rankings for sophomore filly pacers with an unblemished 4 for 4 record this year and accompanying wins in the Mistletoe Shalee and Nadia Lobell Stakes.

 

Brad Grant and Brittany Farms own the speedy distaffer who is trained/driven by the Hambletonian winning duo of Tony Alagna and Andrew McCarthy.

 

Bettor’s Wish is now headed to Woodbine-Mohawk, while Reflect With Me will stop at Lexington’s Red Mile for Kentucky Sire Stakes.

 

This fall at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, Brittany will sell a Captaintreacherous colt from the immediate family of Bettor’s Wish, Captain Cook. Of note is that all of the farm’s 2020 yearlings, like Reflect With Me, are “dual eligible,” meaning they’re eligible for nomination to the state or province in which their sire stands, and to the KYSS program.

 

Click here to see the farm’s complete sale roster that includes pedigrees that are updated on a daily basis.