More than $500,000 in purse money on the line Sunday,
August 20
NICHOLS, N.Y. (August 15, 2017) – Fans of horse
racing will be treated to a world-class afternoon of racing at Tioga Downs on
Sunday, August 20 headlined by the $200,000 (est) Roll With Joe Open Pace
presented by Blue Chip Farms and the $500,000 (est) Empire Breeders Classic
Finals for the premier New York-sired 3-year-old pacers.
Off the track, fans will have a unique opportunity to enter
a contest to name a baby horse that will hopefully go on to compete at the
sport’s highest levels. The foal, a baby horse less than one year old, was bred
at Jeff and Paula Gural’s Allerage Farms in nearby Sayre, PA.
Race fans in attendance on Sunday will have the chance to
submit their best name for the filly. The filly is a daughter of the stallion
Yankee Glide and her mother is Love Tale. A representative from Allerage Farms
will pick their three favorite names and the winner will be the name that
receives the most applause from the crowd. The person who submits the winning
name will then receive 1 percent of the horse’s earnings during its 2 and
3-year-old racing seasons. For complete contest rules visit www.tiogadowns.com.
The Empire Breeders Classic will feature a deep, and
talented group of sophomore pacers. In the colts and geldings division, odds-on
favorites Miso Fast and Funknwaffles were narrowly defeated in last Sunday’s
eliminations by In A Single Bound and Art Scene respectively. In the third
elimination, Heaven’s Gait was a four-length winner and has now won four
straight races and six of his last seven.
Heavily-favored Clear Idea and Tequila Monday won the pair
of eliminations for the fillies and loom as the ones to beat in Sunday’s final.
Clear Idea, trained by Blake MacIntosh, has won seven in a row and earned more
than $188,000 this year. Tequila Monday won her elimination a full second
faster than Clear Idea and has had success on the Grand Circuit this season,
winning the Lismore Final at Yonkers and finishing third in the $321,200 Fan
Hanover at Mohawk.
Post time for Sunday’s spectacular program is 1:00 p.m.
Besides the three headlining stakes, the card also includes the third leg of
the Miss Versatility for the sport’s top trotting mares and 2-year-old
divisions of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes.
For more information, visit www.tiogadowns.com.
Photo attached of filly for Name That Foal contest courtesy
Allerage Farms
