Musical Victory - 2FT
bay filly, 2, Valley Victory -- Allegro, by Arnie Almahurst
Owners
Brittany Farms
An even 20 trotting fillies appeared in the box by the Breeders Crown deadline 1998, perhaps drawn by the alluring straight-aways and wide turns offered by Colonial Downs. There was also no dominant filly to frighten away her fellow freshman. Three eliminations were necessary and the cast of characters at the time of the final was familiar faces with a few exceptions. Per Eriksson, one of the youngest of the Swedish imports to make an indelible mark on the trotting archives in North America, harnessed two fillies of good standing. Decapode was on the board in 12 of her 14 starts, a model of composure for a young trotter. She was the richer stablemate, and won her elimination in a smart 1:58.2 clocking. Musical Victory claimed the Hayes Memorial and American-National among her wins, and was being handled with kid gloves to preserve her potential. Eriksson had won this same event with Delphi’s Lobell and Lookout Victory.
Continental Farms Stable, which has the most starters in the 15 years of the Crown program with 90, had won this division with Nan’s Catch and was trying again with Dream Valley OM for Italian clients. Tom Haughton, who started the great trotter Peace Corps on her career, winning the 1988 Breeders Crown, was represented by Reynolds and Keystone Classic winner Unborn Smiles.
Mario Zuanetti had the good fortune to be associated with a tremendous trotting filly called Almost An Ange, so he too was no stranger to the Crown, bringing a first-crop daughter of Victory Dream named Softly Dream. Bill Andrews had been to this event before with a growthy filly named Moni Maker. The Merrie Annabelle winner Rae was his best shot at a Crown title for him, though with nearly $400,000 and seven wins in 13 starts Rae could rest on her laurels.
Ron Gurfein, like Continental Farms stable, only trains trotters, and is a frequent participant in this Crown event. In 1995 he finished one-two with his entrants, Continentalvictory and Southwind Rise. With just three starts on her card the lightly-raced Bloodstock’s Chat was no Continentalvictory, but Gurfein had to have confidence in his filly to have entered her.
The only two trainers who were not familiar faces in this group were Bob Stewart and Dave Smith and they had a pair of eliminations winners. Stewart had a top trio of trotters in 1998 with freshman filly trotter Canland Hall, her counterpart Angus Hall and three-year-old trotter Conway Hall, all offspring of Garland Lobell.
Dave Smith had Midori Hanover for owner Arthur Rudolph, his wife and son, and a close childhood friend Bernie Owens. Long-time owners of racehorses of both breeds, their filly was the result of the first year of having Dave Smith as their trainer.
One filly not present was Rum Boogie, who showed signs of being the divisional leader, yet ran twice in her Crown elim.
In truth no one was sure of the driving strategy needed to be successful at Colonial. It seemed impossible to get into trouble on the accommodating track, yet some managed to nonetheless. Luc Ouellette, whose transition from raceway driver to Grand Circuit stakes winner was seamless, gunned Musical Victory to the front before most were even aware the was gate leaving. He then settled her and waited for the approach of the others. It came in the form of Berndt Lindstedt and Dream Valley OM and Ouellette let them pass on by. Musical Victory was able to pick up cover from Decapode and merely had to drift wide in the Colonial Downs stretch to zip home in a world record 1:55.2
Driver | Trainer
Per Eriksson | Luc Ouellette
The two-year-old filly field was the only one of four trotting events to traverse the Colonial Downs track and not have a single contestant give in to galloping. Their older sisters behaved so badly that the winner had to be placed first, while the colt events each featured breakers as well.
Mario Zuanetti drove Softly Dream to a well handled second place, while Midori Hanover hailed from another county to be third. Musical Victory is owned and bred by Brittany Farms, i.e. George Segal, a savant of the horse breeding world. It seems he has to merely wish to breed a champion and one appears, no matter the gait or age. Segal leads the owner standings in the Crown by a serious margin, and his breeding concerns are closing the gap on such dynasties as Hanover Shoe farms and Armstrong Bros.
Musical Victory advanced his cause by another trophy in both categories.
Per Eriksson took home his eighth Crown crystal, his third from the freshman trotting filly set. For Luc Ouellette, it was a mere capper on a sensational season that saw him win his first $1 million race, a Woodrow Wilson, Hambletonian Oaks, and a pair of Breeders Crowns. He cracked the millionaires club in Crown earnings, with four trophies and a UDRS of .250 in the series.
Formidable Rum Boogie took the Goldsmith Maid and the division away from Musical Victory, but had to concede the Colonial Downs winner circle.
Purse $327,600
Colonial Downs, New Kent, Virginia - November 14, 1998
Extras
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