by Brian Mazurek, for Batavia Downs

Batavia, NY — Summertime Lea, the heavy 1-9 favorite, didn’t disappoint her backers as she made it six wins in seven starts in her short career, winning a $37,910 division of the New York Sire Stakes for 2-year-old filly pacers at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Sept. 1).

Paul White photo

Summertime Lea was a 1:56.4 winner for driver Tony Hall.

Driver Tony Hall, making his first appearance ever at Batavia Downs, took Summertime Lea ($2.30) to the top just before the quarter pole and just sat back and enjoyed the ride the rest of the way. Hall had a driving triple in his Downs debut.

Starting from the second post, Summertime Lea (Lislea-Donna Summer) registered fractions of :28.3, :59.2 and 1:28.3 over the fast track en route to a winning time of 1:56.4, which was well off the Batavia Downs track record of 1:55 set by Paula’s Best in 2006.

Greatdayforamerica (Jeff Gregory), the longest shot on the board, was second, 1-1/2 lengths behind the winner while JK Songsungblue (Howard Parker) was up for third.

Trained by Ron Burke, Summertime Lea has now pushed her bankroll to $147,433 on the season.

“She’s a really good filly,” reinsman Tony Hall said. “She had no problem getting around the track and did it all on her own.”

In the first division, which proved to be the slowest of the three New York Sire Stakes races, Give Me An Amen ($4.20) took advantage of a pocket trip and rallied along the passing lane to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.3 for driver Jeff Gregory and trainer Linda Toscano.

Owned by Martin Sternberg and Fred Wallace, Give Me An Amen (Art Major-Tina Blue Chip) has now won three races in seven starts and moved her seasonal earnings to $84,036. Sea Major (Stephane Bouchard) was placed second and Freetime (Pat Berry), who finished second, was placed third.

Gregory said after the race, “This filly really has had some bad luck in her last couple of starts; she was first over. But she liked the trip on the rail tonight.”

In the second division, Hit The Curb ($4.80) popped the pocket down the stretch and rolled to the victory in 1:56.4 for driver Tony Morgan. Park N Orchard (Stephane Bouchard) and Naughty Marietta (Jeff Gregory) took the place and show positions, respectively.

Hit The Curb (Art Major-Student Driver) sure does love Western New York as her only other win of the season came at Buffalo Raceway on July 22 in New York Sire Stakes action.

With the victory, Hit The Curb moved her earnings in 2012 to $72,886 for owner W Springtime Racing Stable.

In the Excelsior Series for 2-year-old pacing fillies, winners included Rochas Hanover (Tony Morgan), Exclamation (Tony Hall) and JK Black Beauty (Jeff Gregory), who had the fastest time on the night of the 2-year-old pacing fillies races with a 1:56.2 score.

Racing resumes on Monday with the annual Labor Day matinee beginning at 1:15 p.m.