Barn Babe and John Cummings Jr.
posted the fastest mile of the night as the NYSS for 3-year old trotting
fillies rolled into Tioga Downs on Saturday night. Three divisions of sophomore
filly trotters highlighted the twelve race card.
Barn Babe (John Cummings Jr.) left
the gate alertly from post position number four and sat a two hole trip behind
Wygant Lady (Jeff Gregory) through fractions of 27.3, 57.1, and 1:25.3 before
challenging in the stretch. In deep stretch it looked as though Louise Kemp
(Jim Marohn Jr.) had put away her competition with a grueling first over move,
but Cummings had Barn Babe firing on all cylinders out of the pocket. Barn Babe
used a 28.3 final quarter to get up by three parts of a length in a new
lifetime best of 1:54.2. Steve Pratt trains and co-owns the 3-year old daughter
of Cash Hall – My Baby’s Momma with Nancy Pratt of Corfu, NY. It was the second
win in the NYSS this season for Barn Babe who posted her fourth win in seven seasonal
starts.
In the first division of the NYSS
Trond Smedshammer used a second over trip with Proclaiming April to capture the
first race of the night in 1:56.1 as the 1-2 betting favorite. Smedshammer also
trains the 3-year old daughter of Conway Hall – Lawn Tennis for owner-breeder
White Birch Farm of Allentown, NJ.
In the third and final division of
the night, Brandson Simpson steered Lola De Vie to her fifth win in seven
seasonal in a lifetime best equaling 1:55.3. Chris Ryder trains the 3-year old
daughter of Credit Winner – Fan Favourite for the Joie De Vie Farm of Jobstown,
NJ. With the win, Lola De Vie increased her seasonal earnings to more than
$183,000 on the year, with the lion’s share coming from her Empire Breeders’
Classic victory earlier this month at Vernon Downs.
Four divisions of NYSS Excelsior
Stakes were also held on Saturday night at Tioga with the winners being:
Blarney – Jeff Gregory (1:57.2), Suzies Little Vic – Jeff Gregory (1:58.2),
Minnie Madness – Ivan Davies (1:58), and Pretty Crazy – Brandon Simpson
(1:57.1).
Tioga Downs continues live racing
action on Sunday, June 30th with a post time of 1:30pm, for more
information on Tioga Downs please visit us online at www.tiogadowns.com.
