Barn Babe and John Cummings Jr. posted the fastest mile of the night as the New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies rolled into Tioga Downs on Saturday night.

Three divisions of sophomore filly trotters highlighted the 12-race card.

Barn Babe left the gate alertly from post position number four and sat a two-hole trip behind Wygant Lady (Jeff Gregory) through fractions of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:25.3 before challenging in the stretch. In deep stretch it looked as though Louise Kemp (Jim Marohn Jr.) had put away her competition with a grueling first over move, but Cummings had Barn Babe firing on all cylinders out of the pocket. Barn Babe used a :28.3 final quarter to get up by three-parts of a length in a new lifetime-best of 1:54.2.

Steve Pratt trains and co-owns the daughter of Cash Hall and My Babys Momma with Nancy Pratt of Corfu, New York. The win was the second in the NYSS this season for Barn Babe, who posted her fourth win in seven seasonal starts.

In the first division of the NYSS, Trond Smedshammer used a second over trip with Proclaiming April to capture the first race of the night in 1:56.1 as the 1-2 betting favourite. Smedshammer also trains the daughter of Conway Hall and Lawn Tennis for owner-breeder White Birch Farm of Allentown, New Jersey.

In the third and final division of the night, Brandson Simpson steered Lola De Vie to her fifth win in seven seasonal in a lifetime-best equaling 1:55.3. Chris Ryder trains the daughter of Credit Winner and Fan Favourite for the Joie De Vie Farm of Jobstown, New Jersey. With the win, Lola De Vie increased her seasonal earnings to more than $183,000 on the year, with the lion’s share coming from her Empire Breeders Classic victory earlier this month at Vernon Downs.

Four divisions of NYSS Excelsior Stakes were also held on Saturday night at Tioga with the winners being: Blarney and Jeff Gregory (1:57.2), Suzies Little Vic and Gregory (1:58.2), Minnie Madness and Ivan Davies (1:58), and Pretty Crazy and Brandon Simpson (1:57.1).

(Tioga Downs)