There was no tapping of the brakes for Gotthegreenlight at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday afternoon (May 25) as she destroyed the track record for three-year-old pacing fillies by taking her $58,100 division of the New York Sire Stakes.
It didn't come easy either.
Gotthegreenlight needed every split second of the clock as she nipped a game American Ticket by a mere nose in 1:52.2 over the "fast" track. The time smashed the previous standard of 1:53.3 set by Mosquito Blue Chip in 2015 and Gias Surreal in 2019.
Watching American Ticket from third through the opening half mile in :57, Gotthegreenlight started to attack first over up the backstretch the final time. With a 1:25 split in the books with a panel to go, it became a match race down the stretch between the pair.
Tough-luck loser American Ticket was stubborn and didn't relinquish the lead until the final strides as Gotthegreenlight was able to stretch a nose in front, thanks in part to a :27.2 final quarter. Kele Kele was 6-3/4 lengths back for the show spot.
"We had the middle of the [starting] car and knew there was speed on the inside," Bartlett said of sitting back in the beginning. "We didn't want to go out but wanted to stay in contact."
It was the first win in two starts in 2022 for Gotthegreenlight (American Ideal-Bet On Luck). Trained by Richard "Nifty" Norman and co-owned by Patricia Stables and Kovach Stables, the victory jumped her season earnings to $31,802 and $278,456 lifetime. He paid $3.30 to win.
In the second bracket, Bartlett found things to be a "joyride" as he drove Joyride Hanover ($4.80) to a convincing wire-to-wire score over Superbly with Fly Like An Angel collecting the show check.
"She's a handy filly," Bartlett said of Joyride Hanover. "She's great gaited and gets around the turns really well. I knew with the rail we could push out really hard and we got the trip we wanted." Setting fractions of :30.1, :59.3 and 1:28.2, the final time was 1:55.3, more than enough for Joyride Hanover to take the win.
Owned by Eric Good and trained by "Nifty" Norman, it was the first win in three appearances on the season for Joyride Hanover (American Ideal-JK Higher Power). The win upped her winnings to $32,554 on the campaign and $217,512 in her career.
In the two $15,000 Excelsior A races, Time To Roar (Tyler Buter) captured a 2-1/4-length decision over Mini Rose in 1:55.4 while A Girl That Twirls was a nose better than Twenty Grand in a race that went in a snappy 1:54.2.
Morrill Jr. finished the day with four victories while Bartlett and Kyle Cummings had two each. Shawn McDonough topped the trainers with a hat trick with Norman getting a pair.
Racing will continue on Friday afternoon (May 27) with a nine-race card scheduled with post time at 1:30 p.m. (EDT).
(Buffalo Raceway)