Batavia, NY — The Last Martini served Cowgirl Hanover her first career loss by going gate-to-wire in the $102,500 New York Sire Stakes for 2-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday (Aug. 14) evening at Batavia Downs.
Sent off as the prohibitive 1-9 betting favorite, Cowgirl Hanover (Doug McNair) got away third as stablemate The Last Martini (Jason Bartlett) grabbed the lead and got to the quarter in :29. With the short field following in single file, Bartlett throttled down the half even more to a :59.1 saunter and still didn’t get any opposition from behind until well into the second circuit.
Halfway up the backstretch, McNair finally pulled Cowgirl Hanover, who quickly made her way to second in a now uptempo :28 third panel. As the pair made their way around the last turn, Cowgirl Hanover got to within a half length of The Last Martini, but that would be as close as she would get. The Last Martini threw down a furious :27.3 final quarter, refused to give up any ground at all to Cowgirl Hanover down the lane, and won by a half length in 1:54.4.
It was the second straight win for The Last Martini ($19.80), and it pushed her earnings to $110,399 for owner Glenview Livestock. Jared Bako trains the winner, who was bred by Crawford Farms.
There were also four $20,000 Excelsior stakes on the card. The winners were:
- Huntingfortreasure (Huntsville-Worldly Treasure), in 1:57.4 for driver Mark Macdonald, trainer Ray Schnittker, and owner-breeder Steve Jones.
- Fashion Terror (Huntsville-High Fashion Model), in 1:58.1 for driver Jason Bartlett, trainer Mark Ford and owner-breeder All Star Racing.
- Beantown Deuce (Huntsville-Don’t Think Twice A), in 1:58.2 for driver Brett Beckwith, trainer George Ducharme and owner Michael Goldberg, who bred the filly with Andrew Harris.
- Fansville (Huntsville-Caviart Elena), in 1:55 for driver Jason Bartlett, trainer Joe Bongiorno and owner Chain Lightning Stables. Eric Taddeo bred the winner.
Jason Bartlett added one overnight victory and ended his night with a grand slam in the bike.
Another big winner on Wednesday was Huntsville, who sired all five NYSS and Excelsior winners and a total 10 of the 15 horses who hit the board in those same five races.
Live racing at Batavia Downs resumes on Saturday (Aug. 17) at 6 p.m. Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website.