Two year old trotting fillies were featured on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. There were three divisions of the $53,500 New York Sire Stakes for freshman distaffers and the favorites thrived. Linda Toscano’s Lima Novelty (Chapter Seven) moved her record to four-for-four in her freshman campaign behind an impressive score in 1:57.3. Frank Coppola Jr. piloted the 2-5 betting favorite Lima Novelty who never had an anxious moment on Saturday and is building her resume to be the top point earner among freshman trotting fillies this summer. Her win was just a fifth of a second off the track record for two year old fillies.
Supergirl Riley’s (Muscle Mass) lone defeat in NYSS competition coming into Saturday night came to Lima Novelty. The Erv Miller trainee was the 1-5 favorite while making her Spa debut and cruised to a decisive win with Marcus Miller in the sulky. The victory, which was the third in six career tries for Supergirl Riley, came in 1:58.
Ake Svanstedt’s Fury Road (Muscle Mass) was the third favorite to win in the three big Sire Stakes races on Saturday night as the freshman filly went wire-to-wire with Andrew Mccarthy in the bike. Fury Road won for the third time in her last four starts in stakes competition as the 4-5 favorite held off the late charge of longshot Cherry Peep (Dan Daley) to prevail in 1:58.4.
The fastest freshman filly of the night did race in the NYSS but she was in Excelsior Series ‘A’ competition. The Chris Oakes-trained A Thing Goin On (Chapter Seven) went coast to coast in a career best 1:57.2 for driver Wally Hennessey to match the track record for two year old trotting fillies which was held by Goosebump Hanover who set the mark in 2015 with Jim Morrill Jr. in the sulky.
Live racing resumes on Thursday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at 12:15pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino