STANDARDBRED CANADA reports that harness racing trainer Chris Ryder enjoyed a stellar 2020 campaign, thanks in large part to the stars of his stable: Bettors Wish and Party Girl Hill. With Bettors Wish's first foals on the ground, the now four-year-old mare Party Girl Hill will look to help Ryder carry his new-found momentum into 2021.
"To go to the barn and those two were there — most days, it was a blessing!" Ryder told Trot Insider. "They carried us through."
Bettors Wish retired from his racing career — good for 24 wins and over $2.7 million in the bank — after concluding his four-year-old season with a decisive 1:48.1 score in the TVG Open at The Meadowlands last November. Now, it's time for Party Girl Hill to make her statement against older company — and her nearly flawless three-year-old campaign serves as ample indication that she'll likewise be a major force to reckon with.
"She's been a surprise, even though we were confident when we first put her on the track," said Ryder. "She was terrific. It was a heck of a year. Couldn't even imagine that a completely inexperienced, unraced three-year-old would come out and just go the way she did. It just shows you what good stock she is."
Of 16 starts, Party Girl Hill won 15 of them, banking $932,545 in the act and taking her mark of 1:47.2 in her lone tilt against male company — in the Crawford Farms Tattersalls Pace at The Red Mile.