by Carol Hodes, for the SBOA of New Jersey

Manalapan, NJ — Hall of Fame driver Cat Manzi guided a pair of Muscles Yankee fillies to victory in two of the three $10,000 Helen Smith eliminations on Friday, August 14, at Freehold Raceway.

The Helen Smith for New Jersey-sired 3-year-old trotting fillies is sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey.

Manzi scored with One Tough Girl in 1:58.1 in the first division, the third race, and Princess Lindsay in 1:58.2 in the second division, the fifth race. The George Dennis owned, trained and driven Rapsong, by Windsong’s Legacy, collected the third division victory, the ninth race.

Joining the three winners in the $80,000 Helen Smith Final on August 21 will be Allamerican Phoebe by Muscles Yankee, Lady In The Wind by Windsong’s Legacy, RS Giggles by Revenue S, Gabbys Gambol by Muscles Yankee and Graceful Sister by Yankee Glide. Only two of the three third-place finishers advanced to the final. By draw, Jeansandatshirt by Self Possessed was eliminated and will be the also eligible.

One Tough Girl, sent off as the 7-5 favorite, picked up her first win in seven starts this year and improved her lifetime record to three wins, five seconds and two thirds from 17 starts for earnings of $147,340.

She is owned by Melvin Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee. Liverman is the filly’s breeder. She passed through the Harrisburg Sale and sold for $155,000.

The Chuck Sylvester trainee, with Manzi at the controls, drew off in the stretch with a two length tally over Allamerican Phoebe, who had cut the fractions.

The Manzi-Sylvester-Liverman team won the 2008 Helen Smith with Muscle Shirt, also by Muscles Yankee.

Princess Lindsay had the lead at every call and scored a one length victory over Lady In The Wind. Manzi had the assignment for trainer Matthew Butcher, Jr., who is the co-owner with Neal Oksenberg. Herb Liverman is also this filly’s breeder, and she sold for $17,000 at the Harrisburg Sale.

Princess Lindsay has four wins and one third in eight starts and earnings of $17,850.

Rapsong, a 2-3/4 length winner over Gabby’s Gambol, improved her record to four wins and four thirds in 14 starts this year and 16 of 27 in-the-money lifetime for career earnings of $132,496.

George and Tina Dennis Inc. and the Ask W Stables Inc. purchased the filly for $15,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale. Her wins this year include a New Jersey Sire Stakes division on June 3 at the Meadowlands and the Lady Suffolk on May 8 at Freehold.

The Helen Smith stakes record of 1:56.2 was set by Marla Bar by Malabar Man in 2002.