Big weekend for Always B Miki
It was a terrific weekend of results in both Hemispheres for leading pacing sire Always B Miki, with his Australian bred son Tricky Miki claiming the Group 2 Western Gateway Pace at Gloucester Park and the North American bred Sylvia Hanover and Grace Hill taking out their Breeders Crown eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
A dual Group 1 winner, Tricky Miki enjoyed a dream run from his second row draw in the Western Australian 3-year-old feature, securing the trail for the majority of the 2,536m trip before being able to push out approaching the final turn and sprint home the best to down Machs Bettor on the line by a head.
It was Tricky Miki’s seventh career win and saw him surpass $200,000 in earnings.
He is out of the Modern Art mare Harriet Elisabeth.
At Woodbine Mohawk Park, Sylvia Hanover extended her winning streak to six consecutive races with an easy one length win in her Breeders Crown elimination for 2-year-old pacing fillies.
The Shes A Great Lady winner has now won 7 of 8 starts for earnings of $498,300.
She is out of the Artiscape mare Shyaway.
The 2-year-old eliminations were a great showcase for the stock of Always B Miki, with five qualifying for this weekend’s Crown Finals (Sylvia Hanover, Strong Poison, Horizontal, Christchurch and Tip Top Cat) – the most by any one stallion.
Grace Hill also came out on top in the second of the Open Mares eliminations, besting former Australian Group 1 winner No Win No Feed.
It was Grace Hill’s 15th win and took her earnings to $904,790.
She is out of the Western Terror mare Western Silk.
Another daughter of Always B Miki, Mikala, also qualified for the Mares Final with a third placing in the first elimination heat.
Always B Miki will also be represented this weekend by the 3-year-olds Niki Hill and Mad Max Hanover in their respective Breeders Crown Finals.