Warrawee Michelle - 2FT
Trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt wound Warrawee Michelle off the pegs in the straightaway to collar her tempo-setting stablemate and hold off a swarm of late pursuers
Starting from post 4, Svanstedt settled Warrawee Michelle into a gap from third while her stablemate Senorita Palema raced keenly on the point to a :27.3 first quarter with Sugar Instead sitting the pocket.
Senorita Palema managed to slow the tempo to a :57.2 half and the field began to bunch to the far turn, prompting Svanstedt to make his attack.
Warrawee Michelle motored first over through the final turn and loomed to match strides with Senorita Palema past three-quarters in 1:25.2.
Senorita Palema folded into the eighth pole, leaving Warrawee Michelle to the lead as late bursts of speed came from Soiree Hanover and Buy A Round down the center of the track.
The pair kept gaining to the beam, but Warrawee Michelle maintained the advantage to the finish by a head in 1:53.4. Soiree Hanover finished second with Buy A Round taking third and Drawn Impression in fourth.
“She loves to fight, and she doesn’t give up until I tell her we’re done, then she’s done,” Svanstedt said. “I had a good position, and the speed was OK in the race, but she’s a great horse and can leave fast. She’s strong both mentally and physically.”
Collecting her fourth win from nine starts, Warrawee Michelle has now banked $478,125 for owners Ake Svanstedt Inc., Santandrea Inc., and Young Guns.
Warrawee Farm bred the daughter of Walner-Sound Check, a $200,000 yearling purchase from the 2022 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Off the 3-2 favorite, she paid $5 to win.
The victory by Warrawee Michelle gave trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt back-to-back victories in the 2-Year-Old Filly Trot, which he won last year with eventual Dan Patch divisional winner Special Way.
He is the first trainer to win this event in back-to-back years since Jimmy Takter’s threepeat in 2015 through 2017 and the first driver to win in back-to-back years since Yannick Gingras’s four straight wins from 2014 through 2017.
Photos By Jim Lisa for Ⓒ Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown
Photos By John Sanucci for Ⓒ Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown
Photos By Ryan Macedonio for Ⓒ Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown
