Saratoga, NY – With no Fillies and Mares Open on the docket on Friday night (Aug. 9) at Saratoga Casino Hotel, the $12,500 Winners Over for distaff pacers was the feature.

Bye Bye Felicia (#6) won Friday’s feature at Saratoga. Melissa Simser-Iovino Photo.

After the morning line favorite Itty Bitty got scratched, the featured field was cut down to five participants and it was Dale Lawton’s Surreal Feeling (Jimmy Devaux) who wound up be the public’s even-money favorite. A winner of the local Open last month, Surreal Feeling is having a strong campaign and drew inside major danger Bye Bye Felicia (Mark Beckwith) who was fresh off a second-place finish in last week’s Open at the Spa.

The fractions were solid (:27.1, :57) for the aforementioned tandem to close into and the race’s frontrunner, Barynya A, faded sharply when confronted by a first-over Surreal Feeling approaching three-quarters.

Surreal Feeling opened up a bit after checking in at three-quarters in 1:24.3 but Bye Bye Felicia followed her cover into a striking position. Midway through the stretch, Bye Bye Felicia surged past the favorite before stopping the timer in 1:53.1 to record her first local victory. For the Eric Beach-trained 5-year-old, it was win number five on the season. Surreal Feeling was the runner-up while Pasultimatedelite N (Jay Randall) earned the show spot. Bye Bye Felicia paid $7.60 to win in the feature and led an exacta with the favorite second that returned $13.40.

Live racing continues on Saturday night (Aug. 10) at Saratoga with NY Sire Stakes highlighting a 14-race card. Three-year-old colt and gelding pacers will be featured. First post time is set for 7:05 p.m.