Annie O notched her third straight victory in the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) as she dominated her $70,548 division for two-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Batavia Downs while highlighting a five-win night for driver Leon Bailey.

Annie O pushed off the gate to the front and posted fractions of :29, :58 and 1:26 while building a 3-1/2-length lead at the third station. The filly then extended away by 6-3/4 lengths and stopped the clock in 1:55.1. Clear Choice (Braxten Boyd) was second-best, followed by Hurrikane Schmazy (Mark MacDonald).

Annie O ($2.30) is owned by Bonnie Benson and Andrew Stafford, who also trains the filly. The daughter of Huntsville-Rapunzel Blue Chip, bred by Southwind Farms LLC, is now three-for-five lifetime. 

Aside from the already mentioned Annie O, Bailey also won with Kootenay Leia (1:54.4, $6.08), Cigar Night (1:59.3, $17.54), Bars Open (1:59.4, $6.84) and Initial Concept (1:58.1, $13.98). Bailey also added a second and three thirds from his 14 drives on the 15-race program, giving him a stellar .468 UDR for the evening.

In the $72,917 second group, Huntsvilles Honey sat in behind a fast first quarter and struck late to win.

Huntsvilles Honey (Matt Kakaley) dropped in third as Too Pink To Pass (Lauren Tritton) tore to the quarter in :26.3, with Phast Phyllis (Leon Bailey) applying pressure before dropping into the pocket. Positions then remained unchanged to the half in :57.1 and three-quarters in 1:26.1, where Huntsvilles Honey pulled and advanced towards Too Pink To Pass in the last turn. Too Pink To Pass still looked strong at the top of the lane, but Huntsvilles Honey wore her down in deep stretch, while holding off the late-closing Maxina (Drew Monti), to win by a quarter-length in 1:56.3. Phast Phyllis was third.

Huntsvilles Honey ($5.76) is owned by Joe Trice and trained by George Ducharme. The daughter of Huntsville-Thats Incredible has won twice in five starts.

There were three $27,778 New York Excelsior Series divisions for two-year-old pacing fillies. Memums Spitfire ($3.58) took the first in 2:00.2 for driver Wade Tomaszewski and trainer Thomas Mays. The second went to Spider Claire ($2.12) in 1:58 with Matt Kakaley aboard for Paul Roy. Lauren Tritton steered Where Is The Love to a 1:55.3 score for trainer Linda Toscano in the third contest.

Face The Shadows headlined a triple for trainer Samuel Smith as she captured the $18,750 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace. She sat third behind Elegant Woman A (Drew Monti), who set the pace with fractions of :27.1, :56 and 1:24.4. In the turn, Elegant Woman A was on top by two lengths and three ahead of Face The Shadows, who had been locked in on the pegs but finally found some daylight spinning out of the turn. Kevin Cummings had Face The Shadows under a heavy drive, and the mare responded by making up the deficit and moving ahead by a length at the line to win in a seasonal-best 1:54.1. Elegant Woman A was second, followed by Windsun Charlotte (Dave McNeight III)..

The win was the fifth of the year in 22 starts for Face The Shadows ($20.52), who is owned by El Dorado Stables. The six-year-old Shadow Play-Face To Face mare is now 16-for-109 lifetime.

Smith also won with Kootenay Leia, driven by Bailey, and Sunshine Shelby (1:57.1, $4.24), piloted by Cummings. He leads the Batavia standings with 20 wins this season.

Live racing will resume at Batavia Downs on Saturday. Three-year-old male pacers will contest a non-betting $56,900 USD NYSS division before the main card, which begins at 5 p.m. The program features the $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace, with a full field of top Open-class pacers, and a $58,000 USD NYSS three-year-old pacing male division.

(With files from Batavia Downs)