Gaitway Gal carries hopes for family double

DOVER, Del. — Last month, Gaitway Guy (Delmarvalous) capped an undefeated rookie harness racing season with a stout three-length win in his $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders’ Fund final. On Wednesday (Dec. 14), his older sister, Gaitway Gal (Delmarvalous), will angle for her own series sweep in the DSBF championship for 3-year-old pacing fillies at Bally’s Dover.

Both precocious pacers come from an unlikely source: Brussels Hanover, whom the Fischer family’s GTY Stable, of Englishtown, N.J., bought for a mere $2,500 as a yearling.

“(Trainer) Joe (Hundertpfund) bought her for us at the Harrisburg sale in 2011,” recounted Ken Fischer. “She was New York-eligible and raced the Sires Stakes races there at both 2 and 3 years old, with some surprising success. After that, we raced her primarily in Delaware.”

Brussels Hanover made $326,912 and took a mark of 1:53.3 in her racing career. And since being retired from racing to become a broodmare, she’s continued to pay dividends to the Fischers. After breeding her to Artspeak in the spring of 2016 — the product of which was a filly called Sprout, a now 5-year-old who races primarily at Freehold Raceway, near New Jersey’s Gaitway Farm — Fischer turned his focus with Brussels Hanover back to Delaware.

“Brussels has been a resident at Maple Run Farm, in Camden-Wyoming (Del.), ever since,” Fischer explained. “She was bred to Delmarvalous, hoping to produce an overnight racer in Delaware, and, boy, did that match work out!”

The first such Delmarvalous–Brussels Hanover product was none other than Gaitway Gal, who has only finished worse than second once this season, having recorded five wins and three second-place finishes in nine starts and banked $97,950. Her quest for a sixth seasonal win will begin from post four, and Pat Berry will once again handle the driving duties for trainer Jeff Smith. The earner of $177,304 in her career was sent the odds-on favorite in both of her preliminary divisions, and won them in 1:55.2 and 1:55.3, respectively. Her younger brother, Gaitway Guy, capped a sparkling seven-for-seven freshman campaign with a 1:55.3 win in his DSBF final on Nov. 21.

Regardless of whether Gaitway Gal can follow in her little brother’s footsteps on Wednesday night, Fischer has every reason to be delighted with both of his star Delaware performers — especially given how their dam exceeded all expectations.

“She (Brussels Hanover) is a 100 percent producer, and she’s made us very glad we gave her the chance,” Fischer concluded.

First post Wednesday at Bally’s Dover is 4:30 p.m.; the DSBF final for 3-year-old pacing fillies is carded as race 10, with an approximate post time of 7:35 p.m.

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From the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund