Dover, DE --- From among the top 2&3-year-old colt and filly pacers and trotters in the sport vying for $1,562,150 in purses in all eight Matron Stakes finals on the card, a plentiful group of owners from the Delaware Valley will be competing for a significant portion of the stakes money, on the biggest Thursday in racing at Dover Downs on Nov. 6. Post time is 4:30 p.m.

Howard Taylor, a prominent Philadelphia attorney who owns one of the biggest racing operations in harness racing, is one. Another is Jules Siegel, master of the prominent breeding and racing Fashion Farms of New Hope, Pa.; Bay Pond Stable of Paoli, another from the Philadelphia area.

 

Representing home state starters are Rojan Stable (Norm and Bob Aerenson) of Wilmington and Frank Chick of Harrington. Across the Delaware river is a powerhouse  collection owned in part by Christina Takter of East Windsor, including the sensational trotting sophomores headed by the sensational  colt, Father Patrick,  and outstanding filly champion, Shake It Cerry. Another Takter entry, world champion Wild Honey, races in the first race at Dover for a $203,800 purse, the 2-year-old Matron Filly title event. Another New Jersey representative waves the colors of the highly successful White Birch Farm of Allentown.  

 

There are five $1,000,000 winning horses in this year’s Matrons, three of them trotters; Father Patrick, more than $2 million and Shake It Cerry, $1.7 million in her two years of racing, along with other Takter trainees- Nuncio, $1.7-million and Lifetime Pursuit, $1-million. Two sophomore colt pacers are also millionaires, All Bets Off and McWicked, both near 1.2-million in purses.

 

Takter has the most horses among trainers entered in this year’s Matron with 15. Ron Burke, the winningest trainer in the sport for the past five seasons, is next with 14. University of Delaware grad Joe Holloway, Jim Campbell, Swedish trainer Ake Swanstedt and Canadian Casie Coleman race two horses each.  

Yannick Gingras, the sports leading driver, Tim Tetrick, the defending champion, Dave Palone, the all-time leading driver in North America, Hall of Famers John Campbell, Ron Pierce and David Miller, Brian Sears and George Brennan are among the sport’s leading drivers in the eight Matron divisions.