The New York Sire Stakes champion among freshman fillies last year, Barn Bella (Conway Hall) has picked up right where she left off. The Steven Pratt-trained filly went six-for-nine as a two year old in 2016 including a victory in the Two Year Old Filly Final on the $225,000 Night of Champions last season and moved her record to two-for-two in ’17 on Thursday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Barn Bella was the public’s 1-5 betting favorite in her second start back this year and looked every bit the part on Thursday. Coming off a win in which she prevailed in 1:57.4, Barn Bella romped in 1:56.2 this week, dominating her rivals for a nearly ten length victory in the $9,000 co-feature for New York Sired trotters. While regularly piloted in the NY Sire Stakes by Jeff Gregory, Claude Huckabone Jr. has sat behind Barn Bella in both of her wins thus far in 2017.
Live racing continues on Friday night at Saratoga with a 6:45pm first post.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simer-Iovino
