Vla Faire ($9.60) continued to flex her muscles at Batavia Downs Wednesday night as she stormed down the stretch to win the $8,500 Fillies and Mares Open Pace in 1:56.3 over a fast track.
It was her third straight victory and second consecutive win at this level at Batavia Downs.
The heavily favoured Keep It Fair, sent off at odds of 1-2, fired to the front and set fractions of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:27.1 before calling it a night. Jens Underdog (Ray Fisher Jr.) then took over the lead just past the three-quarter pole, but it was short-lived.
Vla Faire (Kevin Cummings), who was third over, swept three-wide around the far turn and needed just a few strides to blow past Jens Underdog at the top of the stretch and score the length win. A final quarter of :29 was more than enough to hold off runner-up Jens Underdog and third-place finisher Two Step Turn (David McNeight III).
It was the fourth win in 13 starts for VLa Faire, owned by the Oakhurst Farms and trained by Richard Tomaszewski. The victory pushed her seasonal winnings to $37,250 and lifetime earnings to $166,476.
The first New York Sire Stakes event of 2013 at Batavia Downs will take place Friday night when the racing resumes with a 12-race program set to get underway at 6:30 p.m. The two-year-old trotter fillies are in the spotlight with three divisions going for nearly $35,000 each. There will also be three $12,800 divisions of the Excelsior Series for two-year-old filly trotters.
(Batavia Downs)