The slim, unpromising filly
by Lisa Harkema
The third filly to win the big race, The Marchioness was the first winner of a four-heat Hambletonian, the first winner with a female owner and the only one whose trainer and driver previously trained trotters for the Russian czar.
As a full sister to Protector, the fastest two-year-old of 1930, The Marchioness naturally became a pricey yearling despite later being described as having been a “slim, unpromising filly.” Selling for $2,300, the Peter Volo daughter was the most expensive yearling at the 1930 Old Glory sale at the end of November that year.
Bestowed with as much talent as her one-year-older brother, it didn’t take long before the jungle telegraph was busy. In May the following year, newspapers reported that “word comes from Syracuse that the two-year-old filly The Marchioness, owned by RR Keeler, prominent banker of Auburn, NY, and trained by Will Caton, promises to be one of the star two-year-old trotters of the present season. (…) In a recent workout this filly trotted a mile in 2:16 (1.24,5) and later stepped a quarter in 30 a seconds – a 2:00 clip – at the end of a slower mile. Not having the advantage of being trained in the south during the past winter, where weather conditions permit regular training, the showing of The Marchioness is all the more remarkable, and if she continues to make the expected improvement, it will be no great surprise if she trots a sensational mile early in the racing season.”