Driver Tyler Buter swept a pair of $78,082 New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) divisions for three-year-old trotting fillies on Friday, June 7 at Tioga Downs with Chapter Seven daughters Honeys Sweet and R Melina in matching 1:54.2 miles over the 'good' track.

Honeys Sweet rebounded in the first division after making a break in stride that took her out of contention during her season's debut in the NYSS leg last week at Vernon Downs. 

Perfect in her first six starts of the season, the Matt Bax-trained favourite Winning Alliance (Todd Ratchford) went straight to the front and set fractions of :28, :57 and 1:25.3. As the field of five fillies made the turn for home, Chaparmbro (Trond Smedshammer) popped the pocket while Honeys Sweet rallied three-wide down the stretch. Honeys Sweet ended Winning Alliance's winning ways as she prevailed by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.2 for the 8-1 upset. Winning Alliance settled for second while Star Attraction (Sarah Svanstedt) rounded out the top three.

Trained by Tony Alagna, Honeys Sweet now has four career victories from a dozen starts and boosted her bankroll to $84,113 for owner/breeder Crawford Farms. She returned $19 for the upset win.

R Melina (pictured above) was a wire-to-wire winner in the second division, streaking to her third straight NYSS victory.

R Melina went straight to the front and led the field of five through panels of :28, :57.4 and 1:26.1. As they entered the stretch, Sister Mary Maude (Joe Bongiorno) went all out after the leader, but R Melina held firm to win in 1:54.2 by one length. Honorable Way (Sarah Svanstedt) finished third.

John Butenschoen trains R Melina for owners M And L Of Delaware and Alabama Harness Associates. After winning seven of 12 starts a rookie, the $110,000 Lexington Selected Sale yearling acquisition is three-for-three to start her sophomore campaign, with her lifetime earnings topping the half-million mark. She paid $2.30 to win as the overwhelming favourite.

Live harness racing returns to Tioga Downs with a 10-race card on Saturday, June 8 at 6:15 p.m.

(With files from Tioga Downs)