Special Sweetheart
Breeding / 3, bay, filly by Western Ideal, Ladys Special Girl – Artiscape
Breeder(s) / 4 for 3 Stable, Bronxville, NY
Owner(s) / 4 for 3 Stable, Bronxville, NY
Sales Info / Homebred
Trainer / Thomas Artandi
Driver / David S Miller
Year /
Starts
/ 1st / 2nd / 3rd / Earnings / Mark
2009 / 18 / 5 / 2 / 3 / $427,144 / 3,1:50.4 M
2008 / 11 / 3 / 3 / 4 / $200,126 / 2,1:53.4s Wdb
Lifetime / 29 / 8 / 5 / 7 / $627,270 / 1:50.4 m

Quotes & Notes

Special Sweetheart

·  The filly’s biggest win of season came at Chester when she scored a 1:51 victory in the $350,000 Valley Forge over Ginger And Fred and Not Enough.

·  She is coming off a third-place finish in a division of the Garnsey Memorial and had fourth-place finishes in the Miss New Jersey, Fan Hanover, Mistletoe Shalee, Nadia Lobell and a division of the Simcoe.

·  Last year, Special Sweetheart was second in her Breeders Crown elimination and eighth in the final.

·  She was second in the Three Diamonds and third in a division of the Simcoe Stakes.

·  Trainer Tom Artandi, a native of Budapest, Hungary, was originally a jockey but soon switched his tack to Standardbreds. Artandi has trained two Little Brown Jug winners, BJ Scoot and Goalie Jeff. Goalie Jeff was the divisional and Breeders Crown champ of 1989.

·  “I raced her dam, Ladys Special Girl,” Artandi said. “This filly had some allergy issues, but once she got racing, she’s been good in every start. I think this horse will be better than her mother.”

·  Special Sweetheart is the second of four foals out of Ladys Special Girl ($144,204; 1:52.4). She is a half sister to 2008 Simcoe winner I’m Just Special ($472,768; 1:51). Ladys Special Girl finished fourth in her Breeders Crown elim and sixth in the final at Woodbine in 2002.

·  Sire Western Ideal won the 2000 Crown Horse Pace.

·  The 4 For 3 Stable is Melvyn, Susan and Theodore Colby. The stable also bred and owned Ladys Special Girl.