One of a few Yonkers invaders to compete in the Friday feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel, Ontario-sired Barynya A went coast to coast in her local debut with Jimmy Devaux in the sulky.
Ettore Annunziata's Barynya A came to the Spa as a winner of three of her last four starts but faced a strong group of distaffers in the Fillies and Mares Open on Friday night.
Devaux blasted the eight-year-old daughter of Blissfull Hall out early and after making the lead in a first quarter in 27 seconds, never looked back. The race’s top two betting favourites, Spreester (Frank Coppola Jr.) and Diamondtoothgertie (Phil Fluet), moved in tandem towards the leader in the $14,500 feature but neither could get to the Australian invader who has found a home at Yonkers. Barynya A paced her final quarter in :27.4 and stopped the timer in 1:52.1 in a mile that was the fastest for a mare this year at Saratoga. Spreester finished second in the feature and is still yet to be worse than third in her nine starts since returning to the Spa this spring while Diamondtoothgertie had to settle for third on Friday night.
In the mild upset, Barynya A paid $11 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $40 and $80, respectively.
Live racing continues on Saturday night at Saratoga with a 6:45pm first post.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)