Jef's Spice - 2FT
bay filly, by Super Bowl
Garden State Park, perhaps the most luxuriantly modern racing facility in the world, hosted two Breeders Crown races in 1985, and the freshman trotting fillies were the first to face the brand-new Garden State starting gate. Trainer Charles Sylvester could be forgiven if he expected to bring home a large chunk of the $514,303 jackpot, as his three-filly entry of Castleton Memo, Evita Lobell, and the brilliant Britelite Lobell loomed odds-on in the high-caliber field. Yet, when the dust cleared, the Sylvester stable would only garner a mere eight percent, the fourth-place share, of the rich purse.
Both Britelite Lobell and Castleton Memo were unable to stay fli:lt in the early stages of the race, and neither had a chance to exhibit the dazzling speed and courage that they had displayed so often earlier in the season. With the two top fillies offstride, along with second-choice Heaven's Glow, the race became a wide-open affair, and when the fillies t1Jrned for home, it soon became clear that the stretch drive would be a brutal one.
JEF's Spice opened a short lead at the eighth pole, but the lightly-raced Armbro Eclair, trained by the masterful Bruce Nickells, took dead aim on her rival for the final surge. With drivers Mickey McNichol and Ron Waples summoning every ounce of their driving savvy, the two fillies dug in, trotting as a team until the game JEF's Spice finally rebuffed the equally brave Armbro Eclair.
McNichol captured his first Breeders Crown with the homebred bay, which is owned by Jeanette & Edward Freidberg's JEF's Standardbred Country Club and conditioned by Jim Gluhm. The filly is a daughter of Super Bowl and was that stallion's third champion in 1985, in as many Breeders Crown trots to date. The mile was trotted in 1 :58.4, and the connections for Breena Almahurst, Evita Lobell, and Argyle Socks cashed the other purse checks.
Owners
JEF's Standardbred Country Club
Trainer | Driver
Jim Gluhm | Mickey McNichol
