Galleria - 3FP
bay filly, 3, Artsplace -- Emory Girl, by Sherman Almahurst
Owners
Jules & Arlene Siegel
Rarely has the sophomore pacing filly division treated onlookers to a year like 1998. Instead of a single dominant filly there were several, and their hard-fought battles and courageous performances often eclipsed those of their male counterparts. Five of the seven pacing fillies entered had earnings greater than $400,000, an unprecedented occurrence.
Armbro Romance had been a slight margin on the divisional leader board coming into the race, which many called the finest field of distaffs assembled in recent memory. The homebred daughter of Artsplace-Armbro Intimate, owned by Armstrong Bros., started out the year strongly, racking up five victories in six starts, all at The Meadowlands. Her career best 1:49.4 world record performance victory over Galleria in the Historic-Ladyship Stake set a new speed standard for her group.
Armbro Romance held up her end of a Little Brown Jug sweep for trainer Brian Pelling by winning the Jugette on Wednesday while stablemate Shady Character won the Little brown Jug the next day. She finished off the board just once in her 15 starts in 1998, and if she had a flaw, it was that she was susceptible to “tying-up” or muscles cramping. It was thought that condition contributed to her two important losses to arch-nemesis Galleria, in the Miss New Jersey Final and in the elim and final of the $400,000 Mistletoe Shalee.
After a brief two-year-old campaign that saw her score four wins in four starts, Galleria put it all together at age three for trainer Jim Campbell and owners Arlene and Jules Siegel of New Hope, Pa. Campbell had come into 1998 expecting a lot from his three-year-old pacers, but his eyes had been on the male side of his ledger, not the female side. Although he liked the prospects of the lightly raced Galleria, few would have expected the average-sized Artsplace daughter to be the star of the stable.
Galleria owned several impressive victories of her own. She won the Breeders Filly Stake at Hoosier Park in a resounding 1:50.4 mile over Ohyouprettything. After a frustrating loss to Armbro Romance in the Jugette where the short stretch and the post positions hampered her racing style, Galleria racked up the Helen Dancer Memorial and Shady Daisy in short order.
Trainer | Driver
Jim Campbell | George Brennan
Galleria had ten head-to-head match-ups prior to her Breeders Crown pairing with Armbro Romance, and the Brett Pelling Stable trainee had bested Galleria seven times. However, Galleria had the distinction of being the only sophomore filly to have beaten Armbro Romance, had won the biggermoney contests between the two. The Breeders Crown final would be the tiebreaker.
As if the top pair weren’t glitzy enough, the Joe Anderson stable had supplemented Ohyouprettything, the richest Illinois-bred filly in history with an incredible $890,093 to her credit. The daughter of Sportsmaster was only the second Illinois-bred pacer ever to enter a Breeders Crown final. Most of her earnings came from taking advantage of the rich Illinois-bred program, and she appropriately mined the Prairie State for all the fiduciary opportunities available, with only three of her 25 wins coming outside it’s boundaries. She did win the Breeders Filly elim at Hoosier Park, finishing second to Galleria, in the final, and her elim and final of the Nadia Lobell at Garden State Park. Ohyouprettything would end up 0-4 in her matches with Galleria when the year was over.
There was another filly in the race who drew attention, not just for her ability but because she was a geographic anomaly. Undercover Lover N, making just her ninth start in North America, was the second New Zealand-bred pacer and first filly ever to compete in the series. She is the daughter of former U.S. champion In The Pocket, who stands double stud duty in both Ohio and New Zealand. Undercover Lover earned $248,252 down under before shipping stateside, winning 17 races in her native country. She won an elimination of the Fan Hanover at Woodbine and was second to Stonebridge First, another Crown entrant, in the final. Stonebridge First was the only returning Crown contestant, having finished third in 1997 to Take Flight. Under Cover Lover N made another good showing at Garden State Park, when she scored a 1:52 victory in the Nadia Lobell elimination at Garden State Park and was second to Breeders Crown hopeful Ohyouprettything in the final.
Armbro Romance was coupled with stablemate Pan Yankees in the Crown Final. Rounding out the field was Fresh Start from the Bret Schultz stable, a bit overmatched but with national driving champion Tony Morgan in the bike, she was in capable hands.
Even New Zealand was tuned in via satellite simulcasting to watch what promised to be a match for the ages.
Galleria left sharply for lead and was parked to the :27 first quarter by a hard driving Undercover Lover N and Luc Ouellette. When Armbro Romance took over the lead at the half, Galleria yielded to second on the rail, while a charging Pan Yankees zoomed up on the outside. Positions remained unchanged to a 1:22.4 third quarter, while Galleria waited patiently to angle free.
Down the stretch the two Pelling trainees raced side by side, as Brennan stayed snugly in behind. Midway through the stretch Brennan found the room he had been looking for, and quickly tipped Galleria to the outside of the long straightaway, and around the tiring Armbro Romance. Also making a big sweeping move around the turn was Joe Anderson and Ohyouprettything, who came closing with a tremendous burst of speed, but the wire arrived in time for Galleria, who stopped the timer in stakes record time of 1:51.
Galleria and driver George Brennan upset Armbro Romance’s bid for a Crown title and also won the divisional championship on the strength of her stellar effort. It was Brennan’s second trophy of the night, his first ever in the Breeders Crown.
Undercover Lover N, who kept to the inside for the entire journey, finished third, three and a quarter lengths back.
Driver John Campbell, the pilot of Armbro Romance, who was looking for his fifth Three-year-old Filly Pace Crown title (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993), could take solace in the fact that his brother Jim won his first Breeders Crown victory in ten tries. The victory gave Galleria $925,132 in earnings for 1998. Bred by Mrs. Lester Vance, Galleria was a $38,000 yearling purchase at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale. Sire Artsplace picked up his fourth stallion credit, and owners Jules and Arlene Siegel happily carried their first Breeders Crown trophy home.
Purse $480,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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