Red Mile Racing

Beachy hopes Moni Maker Stakes an Oaks springboard for Victorianas Secret

Chris Gooden photo

By Ken Weingartner, USTA Media Relations Manager

Two years ago, Allegiant gave trainer Vernon Beachy his first trip to the Hambletonian Oaks at the Meadowlands. Now, he hopes Victorianas Secret can get him to the Grade 1 event for 3-year-old female trotters a second time.

Victorianas Secret has won four of five races this season as she prepares for Saturday’s (July 18) $100,000 Grade 3 Moni Maker Stakes, for sophomore filly trotters, at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Her most recent victory came on June 25 in a division of the Currier & Ives Stakes at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, where she defeated Ginger Tree Lex by a neck in 1:53.1. Her only loss was a second-place finish behind Jailbird Jog in the $300,000 Oak Grove Trotting Oaks on May 16 at Oak Grove Racing & Gaming.

She will start the Moni Maker from post 4 in a field of seven, with regular driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. in the sulky for Beachy and owner Ryan Smith. She is the 8-5 morning-line favorite. Ginger Tree Lex, starting from post 2 with Andrew McCarthy driving for trainer Sam Beegle, is the 5-2 second choice.

“I know we haven’t had her in a lot of big stakes races or brought her out to the Meadowlands to go against some of those fillies out there, but (the Hambletonian Oaks) is what we've been prepping her for all year,” said Beachy, who is based in Ohio.

“We kind of mapped her schedule around going to Oak Grove early, so I didn’t want to over-race going into August. I thought it would be better to keep her close to home and try not to put as many trailer miles on her. If everything goes good Saturday, the Oaks is the goal.”

The Moni Maker is one of four $100,000 Grade 3 events at Scioto Downs on Saturday, along with the Nadia Lobell for 3-year-old female pacers, Cleopatra Invitational for older female pacers, and Invitational for older male pacers. Racing begins at 5:25 p.m. (EDT), with the graded stakes going as races 11-14.

Victorianas Secret, a daughter of Tactical Landing-Victoriana, was purchased by Smith for $32,000 at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. For her career, she has hit the board in 10 of 13 races, with five wins and $195,531 in earnings. Last year, she won a Kentucky Sire Stakes leg at Oak Grove and finished second to eventual Dan Patch Award winner Setyoursightshigh in the $104,000 final there.

“I wish she was easier to manage, but she’s a big, strong filly, and she’s got a lot of speed,” Beachy said. “She’s strong-willed and can get pretty hot pretty quickly. At 2, she couldn’t relax on the front and just wore herself out. At the start of this year, we were playing with a lot of rigging, and I feel we’ve zoned in on that a lot better lately. I feel like she’s heading in the right direction at the right time. She's got a lot of talent, it’s just if she puts it together (on race days) to display it.”

Victorianas Secret is one of three Hambletonian Oaks eligibles in the Moni Maker, with Nancy Takter-trained Godusa and Ron Burke-trained Atlantic Summer. The Hambletonian Oaks final, as well as the G1 Hambletonian final, is Aug. 8 at the Meadowlands. Eliminations, if necessary, for both races are Aug. 1.

In 2024, Beachy watched Allegiant – also owned by Smith – win her Hambletonian Oaks elimination and finish third in the $500,000 final a week later.

“To be able to point two fillies in the same direction in just a few years’ time, a lot of people don’t get to do that,” Beachy said. “A lot of people hope for just one of those horses in their lifetime.

“We’ll see what happens when it gets to that time, but I think I can enjoy this one more having been there before. We’ve had all the nerves and the stress of it. It was kind of a whirlwind. To have the opportunity to do it again, to be part of it, I think you learn to slow down and appreciate it more.”

Allegiant, who won the 2024 Moni Maker in her next start after winning the Currier & Ives, spent the end of her 3-year-old season on the East Coast with trainer Linda Toscano. She won the G1 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old filly trotters at the Meadowlands and the G2 Matron Stakes at Bally’s Dover before finishing second to 6-year-old Nelsonbriteagle NO in the G2 FanDuel Championship for female trotters at the Big M.

At the end of the year, she received divisional Dan Patch Award honors.

Swedish owners bought Allegiant, who earned $1.04 million during her career in North America, for $925,000 at the 2024 North American Standardbred Mixed Sale. Since then, the mare has risen to stardom overseas, most notably winning this year’s Elitlopp in a world-record 1:48 at Stockholm’s Solvalla Racecourse.

Beachy watches all of Allegiant’s races, either live or through replays.

“It’s pretty incredible; I was a big part of that horse’s life,” Beachy said. “It’s pretty rewarding to see what she’s doing now. It’s surreal that a guy like me had a horse like that at one point.”

APEX never had an anxious moment in the $144,650 (div.) Stanley Dancer Memorial [G3] for 3-year-old trotting c**ts and geldings, cruising home in-hand, in 1:52.

APEX never had an anxious moment in the $144,650 (div.) Stanley Dancer Memorial [G3] for 3-year-old trotting c**ts and geldings, cruising home in-hand, in 1:52.

Driven by Dexter Dunn for trainer Marcus Melander and owners Jeff Snyder, S R F Stable and Steve Stewart, the royally bred son of Walner-Mission Brief returned just $2.20 as the 1-9 heavy favorite. He was bred by the Mission Brief Stable and was a $525,000 yearling and is now the sport’s newest millionaire.

Stable mate AMERICAN POWER finished second; INEXPRESSABLE was third.

The race was sponsored by Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.