by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Casino Hotel
Saratoga, NY — There were three divisions of the $59,000p plus New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old filly pacers contested on Sunday afternoon (May 27) at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The award-winner as the top 2-year-old pacing filly in the country made the first start of her sophomore campaign on Sunday in a $59,100 division of the NYSS.
Meliss Simser-Iovino photo
Wisdom Tree upsets champion Youaremycandygirl on Sunday.
Youaremycandygirl (American Ideal-Sweet Lady Jane-Somebeachsomewhere) won all the big races she competed in in 2017 and following three qualifiers, made her seasonal debut on Sunday at Saratoga. Matt Kakaley piloted the Ron Burke-trainee who wound up going off as the public’s 2-5 betting favorite. Her task was a difficult one as Youaremycandygirl squared off against last year’s NYSS champion Alexis Faith (American Ideal-Cannae Cammie-Cam’s Card Shark) who drew the rail for Sunday’s seasonal stakes debut.
Youaremycandygirl appeared poised for an historic effort when she opened up a lead of a dozen lengths in a first half in an eye-popping :53.3. After checking in at three-quarters in 1:22.2, her strides were noticeably shortening and the superstar filly faded sharply around the final turn. It was the Ed Hart-trained longshot Wisdom Tree (Betterthancheddar-Wisdom-Artsplace) who charged hard in the stretch and stopped the timer in 1:52.2 for the upset victory with Bruce Aldrich Jr. in the sulky. Alexis Faith, who made a brief break early in the mile, recovered to finish second.
Youaremycandygirl plummeted back late and wound up finishing last in her first try of 2018.
Ubettergo Go (Art Major-Ubetterthink Think-Bettor’s Delight) was an ultra-impressive winner on Sunday as Mark Macdonald piloted the Blake Macintosh trainee to a wire-to-wire score in a fast 1:52.3. Fellow Canadian invader Pueblo Blue Chip (American Ideal-Casino Miss-Cam’s Card Shark) scored in her $60,200 division on Sunday behind a front-running effort in 1:54.3 with Jim Morrill Jr. in the sulky.
Live racing continues on Monday afternoon as a matinee card is scheduled for the Memorial Day holiday. First time is set for 12:15 p.m.