Keystone Classics held

Bill Zendt cautiously guided the fractious Hidden Viggorish to the lead, then turned on the juice, and the filly powered home in 1:57 to capture the fastest division of the $53,399 Keystone Classic for 3-year-old filly trotters Saturday night at The Meadows.

The stake was contested in three divisions, with Kosmopoliton and Up Front Hotsey taking the other splits.

Hidden Viggorish had won three of her last five starts in wire-to-wire fashion, but the daughter of SJ’s Caviar broke stride early in the other two races. Zendt, who also trains the filly, described her as “nervy” rather than headstrong.

“She got relaxed, and then I let her go,” Zendt said. “I wasn’t going to make any mistakes. But she does like to go—that’s good.”

A homebred for Harmony Spring Stable, Hidden Viggorish was unraced at 2 and kept eligible to only a handful of stakes this year.

“I never thought she was this good,” Zendt said. “We qualified her a couple times last year and quit with her. She was a little sore all over, not terrible, but I didn’t want to keep on going and really lame her up. It’s amazing that she’s come back this good at 3. That’s what happens when you save them.”

In the Keystone Classic, Zendt allowed Hidden Viggorish to pursue the lead at her own speed. Although that meant 1/4-mile on the outside, she had no serious challenges thereafter.

Wizard Springs was 5-1/4 lengths back in second, with Simba Kosmos fourth-placed-third.

Kosmopoliton had finished in the money in all four 2006 starts but lacked a win. It looked like her futility streak would continue when she was pinned against the pylons turning for home. But when Swept To Victory broke stride on the front end, it opened an inside lane that Kosmopoliton and driver Doug Snyder took to victory in 1:58.4.

“We needed that little help on the front end,” said Dane Snyder, who trains the Sierra Kosmos filly for Wayne L. Whitson. “She’s a nice, honest filly. She does everything right but doesn’t have a whole lot of speed. She got off at the end of last year, which a lot of 2-year-olds do, but she’s pretty sound now.”

Favorite Tucson Yankee finished second, while Window Shopping was third in her stake debut.

Keystone Hotsey captured a Pennsylvania Sires Stake on May 6 but hadn’t raced since. Her comeback looked like it might get messy when two horses broke stride in front of her. But driver Ray Paver said the daughter of SJ’s Caviar handled it like a pro.

“That didn’t bother her one bit,” Paver said. “She didn’t flinch an ear. She was ‘two fingers’ after that.”

Keystone Hotsey inherited the lead and made the most of it, scoring by 3 lengths in 1:57.4 for trainer Kelly O’Donnell and owners C. Ed Mullinax and Frank Dettore. B L Hoypop and Keystone Bianca completed the ticket.(By Evan Pattak for The Meadows)

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