So Nice pulled off the mild upset in Friday’s feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Amber Buter-trained mare recorded her fifth win on the season and it came in the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open as she parlayed her pocket ride to victory.
Super Soph (Frank Coppola Jr.) charged out to the early lead and parked out the race’s favourite, Godiva Seelster (Wally Hennessey), in sizzling first half fractions of :26.3 and :54.2 over a track labeled ‘good.’ Super Soph still led turning for home, but was faced with a two-pronged challenge as rivals So Nice and Bazooka Terror (Billy Dobson) closed in. So Nice, the track’s current record holder for aged pacing mares behind a 1:52 score late last season, rallied up the rail to prevail in 1:52.1 with Mark Beckwith in the sulky. Longshot Bazooka Terror was the runner-up in the Friday feature while Super Soph held on for third.
The victory was number 20 in the career of the six-year-old Ponder distaffer So Nice, who returned $14.00 to win and led an exacta and triple that paid $118 and $449.50, respectively.
So Nice is owned by Gene Oldford Farms LLC, Stephen Oldford, and Tyler Buter.
(With files from Saratoga)