“Queen” Bee A Magician Crowned Dan Patch Horse Of The Year
Bee A Magician has been crowned the Monarch and Queen of all Standardbreds. Her Royal Highness, “Queen Bee” captured the 2013 Dan Patch Horse of the Year Award and her connections valiantly accepted the honors on her behalf.
The Royal Family of the Harness Racing Empire were all honored on Sunday, February 23, 2014 at the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Dan Patch Awards Banquet in Dover, Delaware.
But it was Her Majesty’s perfect 17 victories in 17 seasonal starts and record $1.54 million in earnings that all but guaranteed her ascension to the throne.
The sensational 3-year-old trotting filly Bee A Magician became the first such divisional honoree to be named Horse of the Year in 17 years. “Queen Bee” received 94 votes for the top honor, followed by Foiled Again with 19 votes, with 2013 Dan Patch Pacer of the Year Captaintreacherous receiving 16.
The Hambletonian-winning filly Continentalvictory was the last to accomplish that feat in 1996.
Bee A Magician was trained by Richard “Nifty” Norman and driven by the “White Knight” Brian Sears. The ownership troika of Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee reaped the rewards of the top filly’s wins, which included: the Breeders Crown for 3-year-old filly trotters, Hambletonian Oaks, Elegantimage Stakes, and Delvin Miller Memorial.
World Champion Bee A Magician left her own mark on harness racing history as her $1.54 million in purses were the most ever for a diagonally-gaited sophomore distaff. This eclipsed the record of $1.17 million set by Continentalvictory in 1996. In addition, her win record of 1:51, taken in capturing the Delvin Miller Memorial at The Meadowlands, is now the swiftest mile of all-time by a 3-year-old filly trotter.