The Last Martini served up the first career loss to Cowgirl Hanover after she led gate to wire in the lone $140,411 division of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for two-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday evening, Aug. 14 at Batavia Downs.
Sent off as the prohibitive 1-9 betting favourite, Cowgirl Hanover (Doug McNair) got away third as stablemate The Last Martini (Jason Bartlett) grabbed the lead and got to the quarter in :29. With the short field following in single file, Bartlett throttled down the half even more to a :59.1 saunter and still didn’t get any opposition from behind until well into the second circuit.
Halfway up the backstretch, McNair pulled Cowgirl Hanover, who quickly made her way to second in a now up tempo :28 flat third panel. As the Jared Bako trainees made their way around the last turn, Cowgirl Hanover got to within a half length of The Last Martini, but that would be as close as she would get. The Last Martini paced furiously down the lane and refused to give up any ground at all to Cowgirl Hanover and won by half a length in a 1:54.4 mile that featured a :27.3 final quarter.
The win was the second straight in NYSS action this month for The Last Martini and the lion's share of the purse pushed her earnings to $151,995 through four career starts for owner Glenview Livestock of Ingersoll, Ont. The daughter of Huntsville out of Martinique was bred by Crawford Farms. She reutrned $19.80 for the upset win.
There were also four $27,397 Excelsior stakes on the card swept by more Huntsville offspring. Huntsville sired 10 of the 15 horses who hit the board in all five NYSS and Excelsior races.
Huntingfortreasure (Huntsville-Worldly Treasure) won in 1:57.4 for driver Mark MacDonald, trainer Ray Schnittker and owner/breeder Steve Jones.
Fashion Terror (Huntsville-High Fashion Model) was a 1:58.1 winner for driver Jason Bartlett, trainer Mark Ford and owner/breeder All Star Racing.
Beantown Deuce (Huntsville-Dont Think Twice A) scored in 1:58.2 for driver Brett Beckwith, trainer George Ducharme and owner Michael Goldberg, who bred the filly with Andrew Harris.
Fansville (Huntsville-Caviart Elena) won in 1:55 with Bartlett driving for trainer Joe Bongiorno and owner Chain Lightning Stables. Eric Tadeo bred the winner.
Bartlett added one overnight victory and ended his night with a grand slam in the bike.
Live harness racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m.
(With files from Batavia Downs)