The New York State Fair races make their annual appearance at
Vernon Downs this weekend with the freshman fillies racing on Friday evening.
Three divisions each of trotters and pacers will go postward for the Excelsior series purses of $12,000
plus the entry fees for each.
Race one is led by a pair of Conway Hall fillies,
Thoughtfully from Brandon Simpson’s barn and Trish from the Ed Lohmeyer stable. Trish has a pair
of Excelsior wins to her credit and starts from the outside post seven for
owner Patty Hogan and driver Roman Lopez. Thoughtfilly
broke her maiden for Jimmy Morrill
at Batavia last week and
he’s back aboard on Friday for owners Mystical Marker Farms, Hood, and the Simpsons.
The second trot division is race nine where Pazza is the favorite from post
eight for trainer/driver Gates Brunet. The Crazed filly has flashed speed
despite some inconsistencies in her brief career thus far for her owners Joe Spadaro and the voice of NYRA, Tom Durkin.
Turn to race ten for the last of the trotting fillies and
you’ll find a competitive group of seven. Slice Slice Baby is a modest choice
in her very first start for trainer Erv Miller. This Conway Hall lass has but a
pair of qualifiers to show but starts from the rail for Charlie Norris. Paymaq Racing and Harvey Eisman own her.
The pacing fillies are three short fields in races four,
five and six. Spreester is
9/5 on the morning line based on her penchant for winning. The American Ideal
filly has won four of six and over $25,000 this
year for owner Kimberly Zabielski
and trainer Paul Zabielski.
Frank Coppola, Jr is in for the drive.
Next up, Sweet Brown looks like the one to beat off her
speedy past performance. She’s a Bettor’s Delight owned and trained by the team
of Tyler and Amber Buter
with Morrill scheduled to
drive.
Barefoot Beauty is the choice in race six. She’s an Art
Major who has paced in the 1:54 range her last couple and comes into this race
after facing Grand Circuit fillies in the Eternal Camnation last week. Ron Waples is listed for trainer Gregg McNair and owner Jim Avritt.
Post time for Friday is 6:45pm as Vernon kicks off State
Fair week. Visit the Vernon
website for information on the planned activities.
