North American record for Woodside Charm
September 13, 2018,by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Casino Hotel
Saratoga Springs, NY — Woodside Charm shattered the North American record for 2-year-old trotting fillies at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 13).
Melissa Simser-Iovino photo
Woodside Charm and trainer-driver Verlin Yoder turned in a scintillating 1:53.4 mile on Thursday at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Drawing the rail in the $81,750 New York Sire Stakes event, Woodside Charm brought a three-for-three lifetime record into the start. Bet down as the race’s 1-5 favorite, the freshman filly played “catch me if you can” with trainer Verlin Yoder in the sulky. The sensational filly clicked off early fractions of :27.3 and :55.2 and showed no signs of letting up trotting past three-quarters in 1:24.1.
The previous track record for 2-year-old fillies of 1:57.2 was all but a memory at that point, but what the timer said at the conclusion of the wire to wire victory was almost too unbelievable to fathom.
Woodside Charm scored in 1:53.4, the third-fastest mile in track history for a trotter and a new mark for 2-year-old fillies. The previous North American record for a freshman filly on a half-mile track was 1:55.2, a mark easily surpassed in the dazzling Thursday stakes victory by the daughter of Chapter Seven and Fireworks Hanover.
Though her five-for-five record was broken in the record performance on Thursday, Winndevie (Trond Smedshammer) was incredible in defeat, finishing second by only a little more than two lengths in the eye-popping, record-setting mile.
The other division of the New York Sire Stakes went the way of Quincy Blue Chip, who scored in 1:57.1. The Erv Miller-trained Chapter Seven-Sirenuse filly cruised out to the early lead for Jim Morrill Jr. and didn’t face many anxious moments before recording her fourth Sire Stakes win of the season besting Amal Hall (Andy Miller), who kept her streak of finishing first or second in every career start intact.
Live racing continues on Friday night (Sept. 14) at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.