Saratoga Springs, NY — The Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 19) program at Saratoga Casino Hotel featured two divisions of the second leg of the Bunny Lake Pacing Series.

North Country emerged from leg two as the only repeat winner after Billy Dobson piloted her to a second consecutive pocket-sitting victory. After a career best 1:54.4 victory in leg one, North Country again got a two-hole trip behind fellow leg one winner Gingerbred Girl (Larry Stalbaum). After favorite Always Watching (Shawn Gray) came first-over and slugged it out with Gingerbred Girl, North Country surged up the passing lane and stopped the timer in 1:56.4. Always Watching finished second while Gingerbred Girl had to settle for third.

Monica Krist trains North Country, a daughter of Roll With Joe.

In the afternoon’s other division, Tsimis toughed out a first-over victory for trainer Andy Gardner and reinsman Jimmy Devaux. Tsimis, the runner-up to North Country in leg one, had the daunting task of taking on big favorite Pursuit Of Speed (Stalbaum), who recorded the fastest win of the series when she cruised to a 1:54.3 score in leg one. On Tuesday, the Stalbaum trainee was again tough on the lead, but succumbed to the pressure late from Tsimis, who proved best in 1:55.3 to spring a mild 5-1 upset.

The inaugural Bunny Lake Final will go for a purse of upwards of $30,000 and will be the featured event next Tuesday (Oct. 26).

Live racing at Saratoga resumes on Sunday (Oct. 24), with a card set to kick off at noon.