Trainer Linda Dollinger-Stehr and owner-breeder Jane Anderson-Harper kicked off September in a big way.

On September 6, Dollinger-Stehr recorded a rare double, taking a pair of maiden special weight events for West Virginia-breds, and while the future remains to be written, she’s looking forward to what it may bring. One of those winners came for Anderson-Harper, and in the other race, Anderson-Harper’s entrant ran second.

In the fifth race on the card, Dollinger-Stehr saddled the speedy Tico Grande, with Victor Rodriguez up, to a sharp, 6 1/4-length score in a one-turn maiden special weight dash for state-breds. One race later, Lil Knockout forged a mild 4-1 upset in a one-turn maiden special weight event for state-bred fillies and mares, finally breaking her maiden in her 15^th career outing. Anderson-Harper’s Taco Time finished second.

Tico Grande, third in each of his first three starts, easily lived up to his role as the even-money favorite when he gained command along the fence leaving the chute and led throughout to triumph. He stopped the timer in 52.13 for the 4 1/2 furlongs for owner-breeder Hasty Rebel Stables.

“We knew that he had speed, but I never knew that he had that much speed,” said Hasty Rebel Stables’ Jane Anderson-Harper, who named the stable for a mare that her late husband, Jack Harper, once trained. “He had displaced in each of his first two starts, so we did the [palate] surgery on him before his third start, and he got shut off in the far turn. When he got back to the barn that night, he was really mad. The other night he broke on top and Victor really just let him coast home.”

One race later, Dollinger-Stehr was back in the winners’ circle after Lil Knockout forged a mild 4-1 upset in a one-turn maiden special weight event for state-bred fillies and mares. While Tico Grande had been able to earn his diploma in just his fourth attempt, Lil Knockout finally graduated in her sixth seasonal outing and 15th overall by getting the 4 1/2 furlongs in 53.36. The four-year-old daughter of Leofric had been second three times and third on six occasions in her previous 14 career tries.

While Lil Knockout is owned by Aurelio Jimenez, the runner-up behind her, Taco Time, is another Hasty Rebel homebred, the three-year-old Dominus filly Taco Time.

“That was definitely a good night for the barn,” Anderson-Harper said. “Linda has always worked hard with the horses. Those are the last two horses that I bred. It’s a lot of work being in the barn at all hours in the morning. I’m going to enjoy watching them race, but when they’ve reached that point that we need to stop with them, we’ll find a good home for them.”

Anderson-Harper said that she had nearly forsaken the breeding game prior to breeding Tico Grande but wanted to breed her winning Garnered mare, Sydneys Astral Hat, to Fiber Sonde. When she reached out to Cynthia McKee at Beau Ridge Farm about that prospect. McKee intimated that Fiber Sonde, an unraced son of Unbridled’s Song who turned 20 this year, is on the tail end of an outstanding stud career.

But Anderson-Harper reassured her.

“When I talked to Cyndy McKee one night about breeding my mare to Fiber Sonde, she had been doubtful at first,” Anderson-Harper said. “But I told her that my mare was like ‘fertile Myrtle’ and she would have no problem getting in foal. Sure enough, she got in foal on the first try. I had always heard the Fiber Sondes were a little on the ornery side, but Tico has always been very mild-mannered. He’s never given anyone a problem.”

Unraced at age two, Tico Grande finished a respectable third in his career debut in a one-turn maiden special weight dash won by Easy Pass on May 31. Four weeks later he finished third again in another one-turn maiden special weight dash, this time captured by the talented, unbeaten Life Is Daily. Tico Grande had throat surgery prior to his next start on August 9 but was blocked and steadied on the far turn and returned to the barn an upset animal.

“We really thought he had a good chance in that third start,” Anderson-Harper said. “He had his air shut off in each of his first two races, so after the surgery we thought he would win. He got blocked on the far turn and he was not happy after the race. Sometimes horses know they should win, and you could tell he was mad that he got beat. It took me a while to calm him down when we got back to the barn. I walked him around the barn several times because he did not want to stay in his stall.”

While Anderson-Harper, Dollinger-Stehr and Tico Grande may have been disappointed with his third-place finish on August 9, he more than made amends with his front-running score.

“The other night he broke really well and he made the lead easily and by the far turn he was three lengths clear,” Anderson-Harper recalled. “Victor looked over his right shoulder and didn’t see anyone close, so he just eased up on him. If he had pushed him a little bit, he would have gone 51 and change.”

With her maiden broken, Lil Knockout will be back in action September 25 in a 4 ½-furlong allowance contest.

Meanwhile, Anderson-Harper and Dollinger-Stehr are looking for a two-turn allowance race for Tico Grande and have not ruled out the possibility that he could also run in the straight three-year-old boys race on West Virginia Breeders’ Classics night here on October 11.

“We would like to run him two turns near the end of the month and then have three weeks to the [WVBC] stakes,” said Anderson-Harper. “He has plenty of speed; now we’ll have to see if he can carry it two turns.”