The Quebec-owned mare HP Sissy (Greg Merton, $14.80) cleared down the backside Friday night (October 20), winning Yonkers Raceway’s $50,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.
Away fourth from post position No. 2, HP Sissy saw outer entities Freakonomics (George Brennan) and slight 2-1 choice Newborn Sassy (Tyler Buter) leave with purpose. Locally-debuting Freakonomics worked around ‘Sassy’ before laying down early intervals of :27.1 and :57.4.
HP Sissy then extricated herself from the cones, blowing right by Freakonomics before the 1:24.4 three-quarters. A second-up Divas Image (Brent Holland) badly gapped the eventual winner, making the job of third-up Mach It A Par (Jason Bartlett) that much more difficult.
HP Sissy opened two and a quarter lengths off the final turn, then held a noticeably-drifting (she does that now) Mach It A Par at bay by a length and a quarter n 1:54.
Newborn Sassy, returning Matchmaker victress Mackenzie A (Jordan Stratton) and Betabcool N (Eric Goodell) rounded out the payees. Alas, there would be no ‘Sissy’-‘Sassy’ exacta.
For fourth choice HP Sissy, a four-year-old daughter of Up The Credit owned by Claude Hamel of Ayer's Cliff, Que., and trained by Rene Allard, the win was her ninth in 21 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $76.50, the triple returned $208 and the superfecta paid $962
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)