Batavia, NY — Nine Empire State-bred 2-year-old pacing fillies went postward in two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug. 19) night vying for their share of the available $104,000 in purse. And both winners were sired by the state’s premier pacing stallion, Huntsville.
The first $51,500 division was won by Annie O (Huntsville-Rapunzel Blue Chip), who won by as many as she wanted.
Annie O (Leon Bailey) pushed off the gate to the front and never looked back one time. After posting quarters of :29, :58 and 1:26, Annie O took her 3-½ length lead, rounded the bend and headed for home, where she extended that margin to 6-¾ at the line and won in 1:55.1.
It was the third straight win for the heavily-backed Annie O ($2.30), who is owned by Bonnie Benson and Andrew Stafford, who also trains the filly. Southwind Farms bred Annie O.
Then in the second $52,500 group, Huntsville Honey (Hunstville-That’s Incredible) sat in behind fast early quarters before striking late to win.
Huntsville Honey (Matt Kakaley) dropped in third as Too Pink To Pass (Lauren Tritton) tore to the quarter in :26.3, with Phast Phyliss (Leon Bailey) applying the pressure through that panel. Positions then remained unchanged to the half in :57.1 and three-quarters in 1:26.1, where Huntsville Honey pulled and advanced towards Too Pink To Pass in the last turn. Too Pink To Pass still looked strong at the top of the lane, but Huntsville Honey wore her down in deep stretch, while holding off the last-closing Maxmina (Drew Monti), to win by a quarter length in 1:56.3.
Huntsville Honey ($5.76) is owned by Joe Trice and trained by George Ducharme.
There were also three $20,000 NYSS Excel series races on the program and these were the winners.
Memums Spitfire (Huntsville-Memumsnotnice) 2:00.2, $3.58
Driver-Wade Tomaszewski
Trainer-Tommy Mays
Owner-Curtis Edholm
Breeder-Cedar Knoll Farm
Spider Claire (So Surreal-Notagain) 1:58, $2.12
Driver-Matt Kakaley
Trainer-Paul Roy
Owner-Paul Roy, Ersilia Roy
Breeder-Paul Roy, Ersilia Roy
Where Is The Love (Huntsville-Itzpapaloti) 2:00.2, $3.58
Driver-Lauren Tritton
Trainer-Linda Toscano
Owner-Steven held, Bill Elliott
Breeder-Knuttson Trotting
In the overnight weekly featured $13,500 Open Handicap for fillies and mares, Face The Shadows (Kevin Cummings) sat third behind Elegant Woman A (Drew Monti), as she set the pace as a loose leader with fractions of :27.1, :56 and 1:24.4. In the turn, Elegant Woman A was on top by two lengths, and three ahead of Face The Shadows, who had been locked in on the pegs, but finally found some daylight spinning out of the turn. Despite the gap, Cummings had Face The Shadows under a heavy drive and the mare responded by making up the deficit, and then moving ahead by a length at the line to win in 1:54.1, which was a new seasonal mark by almost two full seconds.
It was the fifth win of the year for Face The Shadows ($20.52), who is owned by El Dorado Stables and Mike Torcello and trained by Sam Smith.
Driver Leon Bailey was on top of his game on Wednesday after winning a total of five races on the card. Aside from the already mentioned Annie O, Bailey also won with Kootenay Leia (1:54.4, $6.08), Cigar Night (1:59.3, $17.54), Bars Open (1:59.4, $6.84) and Initial Concept (1:58.1, $13.98). Bailey also added a second and three thirds from his 14 drives, giving him a stellar .468 UDR for the evening.
Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug 22) at 5 p.m. and will feature New York Sire Stake 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings competing for $114,900 in purses and the $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace featuring a full field of top flight Open class pacers.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia Downs can always be downloaded at the track’s website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab. And you can watch all the races live as they happen for free on the Batavia Downs YouTube page.