by Melissa Keith

The 4-year-old season is challenging for many top 3-year-olds coming back to the track. The 2024 season of Canada’s 2023 Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year illustrates the point: Sylvia Hanover (p, 4, 1:47.3m; $1,748,495) has managed two wins from 10 starts this year, and neither was at her home track Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Going into the Sept. 14 Milton Stake final at Mohawk, Sylvia Hanover was looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses in the Mohawk filly and mare preferred.

Her only win as a 4-year-old had been on July 21 at Plainridge Racecourse, when she captured the $100,000 Clara Barton Pace over a field that did not include divisional leader Twin B Joe Fresh. The 1:48.2f Clara Barton victory was also Sylvia Hanover’s first pari-mutuel start with a driver other than Bob McClure. Tim Tetrick was in the sulky behind the 2022-23 Dan Patch and O’Brien 2- and 3-year-old pacing filly of the year for one more start, before McClure returned.

Shawn Steacy spoke with HRU Friday (Oct. 11) about Sylvia Hanover’s current campaign.

“There’s a lot of great horses racing right now, but the two best are Twin B Joe Fresh and Sylvia,” said the trainer, who was on his way to Mohawk late that afternoon.

He said he was impressed by Sylvia Hanover’s second 2024 victory, a 1:47.3 divisional track record mile in the Sunday (Oct. 8) Allerage Farms Mare Pace at The Red Mile. It was also a new lifetime mark and the co-fastest win of the year by a pacing mare in North America.

“It was kind of unexpected, but the mare deserved it,” Steacy said. “I didn’t know if there was that much life in the track, but over the last two days, it got faster, and I know she has the lungs, the heart, and the ability to carry her speed.”

Winning at the Lexington, KY landmark added to his happiness about Sylvia Hanover’s dominant win. “The Red Mile is a really special place to race for me and my family; it’s the cream of the crop just to race there,” said the Millgrove, ON-based horseman. When racing in the U.S., the mare is trained by his father, Mark Steacy.

While a two-win year may look disappointing on the program page, Shawn said there was more happening behind the scenes with “Sylvia.”

“She had a little bit of a slump around Hambletonian time,” he told HRU. “She was a little tired, a little sick, and she’s bounced back. She started rounding back into form around Milton time [Sept. 14]. We’re continuing to work on her blood and keeping her happy.”

Sylvia Hanover looked playful on track before the Milton final, as Shawn warmed her up. Her caretaker, Natasha Steacy, kept the tall mare relaxed in the paddock before the race, massaging her neck and never leaving her side.

Sylvia Hanover showed signs of a clear turnaround in the Milton, leaving aggressively and coming on again late in a place finish behind leading 2024 Horse of the Year contender Twin B Joe Fresh. Sept. 28 in the Dayton Distaff Pacing Derby at Dayton Raceway in Dayton, OH, Sylvia couldn’t reel in a breakaway Twin B Joe Fresh, but finished a strong second in the winner’s 1:48.3 track record mile.

Coming back strong after what Shawn called “that short bout of sickness” this summer, the defending Breeders Crown champion has her sights set on the 2024 Open Mare Pace at The Meadowlands on Oct. 26.

“She’s in New Jersey right now, prepping for the Breeders Crown,” said her trainer. “We’re just waiting to see if there will be eliminations [Oct. 19]. It wouldn’t shock me if there aren’t any, with Sylvia and Twin B Joe Fresh.”

Shawn said that despite fewer wins than last year, Sylvia Hanover had stepped up well during her 4-year-old campaign.

“She’s been really good all year,” he said. “She’s been super. There’s probably no horse out there that’s come home in as many :26 last quarters… Sometimes you can be out of a race, just on statistics… if you need to make up five lengths and have to pace home in 24 seconds.”

Sylvia Hanover has a reputation for mind games on the track.

“That’s her one thing that makes her a little different,” Shawn said. “She can conserve herself to a point of fault.”

He noted how the mare’s regular driver McClure is able to get the best from her when she understands she’s being “completely asked” to unleash her speed.

McClure himself confirmed Shawn’s view.

“She was excellent [in the Allerage],” observed the winning reinsman. “I’d say she probably had more, but she doesn’t do more than she has to. She loves The Red Mile. Her start last year [Sept. 30 in the Bluegrass] was bionic. She only went :48.1 but she felt like she was going :51,” defeating Twin B Joe Fresh in that 3-year-old filly stake victory.

The driver’s respect for Sylvia Hanover has only grown this year.

“She’s gone some brutal trips, but on that day [Oct. 8 at Red Mile], it would’ve been interesting to see what she could have gone,” McClure said. “She was awesome to start the year, and then she hit a skid. I don’t know if there was some sickness or soreness, but she wasn’t herself for a few starts, and obviously the way Twin B Joe Fresh has come back, she’s lights out this year.”

Sylvia Hanover’s mental game remains perhaps her biggest barrier.

As Shawn said, “That’s her handicap,” particularly at age 4, when positioning throughout the race becomes more essential. “As a 3-year-old, maybe a couple of others” could keep up with Sylvia Hanover’s raw speed, he noted. Among the older mares, there are others who can match strides with the long-legged daughter of Always B Miki—Shyaway, making trip more important.

McClure echoed the trainer’s remarks.

“She’s at times hard to get motivated in the middle half, but down the stretch she has no issues,” he said. “From the three-quarter pole in, she takes care of the rest. She is relentless late.”

Sylvia Hanover’s connections were anticipating the 2024 Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands, but also looking ahead to a potential 5-year-old campaign.

Shawn told HRU, “There’s no decision made on that yet. We’re just taking it race by race.”

Sylvia Hanover’s owners, Hudson Standardbred Stb Inc. of Hudson, QC, have not come to a decision on whether to race or breed the champion mare next year.

Taking on male pacers will not figure in Sylvia Hanover’s 2024 campaign. (It had been suggested elsewhere as a way for Twin B Joe Fresh to seal the deal on the 2024 Horse of the Year title).

“We’ve never talked about it,” Shawn said. “We don’t need to if we’re going to race another campaign.” The fact that the year’s top pacer is already her distaff divisional rival makes the idea of facing stallions and geldings especially pointless.

McClure said that he expects continued upward progression from Sylvia Hanover, one of the horses who has defined his career.

“If she comes back at 5, I think she will come back better and stronger,” McClure said. “The 5-year-old year is usually easier than 4-year-old. Having said that, she and Twin B Joe Fresh graduated together, but I’d like to see it.”