Tioga Downs played host to two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for sophomore pacing fillies on Sunday, Aug. 23, with Savage Cindy and Surreal Spirit victorious.
Savage Cindy blitzed her second straight sub-1:50 mile in NYSS victory, taking the $80,959 first division. She charged out to the inside of Ideal Beauty Queen (Braxten Boyd), took back into second briefly, then circled to the front going to a :26 quarter. Savage Cindy motored through :53.3 and 1:21 middle fractions and opened up on the final turn on the way to a 2-1/2-length victory in 1:49.4. Ideal Beauty Queen held second from Hunting Memories (Colin Kelly).
Savage Cindy, a daughter of Huntsville-Naughty Cindy, entered Sunday's contest off a 1:49.3 victory in the NYSS at Vernon Downs on Aug. 14. The Cory Stratton trainee is four-for-nine this year. She has earned $425,561 lifetime with six wins in 16 starts for owner-breeder Scarlett Stables LLC. The win price was $3.10.
Surreal Spirit pounced from the pocket to take the $79,452 second division. Jeff Gregory marched her out to the front but was pocketed by Odds On Monetary (Matt Kakaley) nearing an opening quarter of :27. Surreal Spirit took the two-hole through :56.4 and 1:25.1 middle splits and commenced her rally on the far turn. She had the upper hand in the stretch battle and rolled clear by 1-1/2 lengths in the 1:52.2 victory. Liberty Style (Jason Bartlett) was third.
Surreal Spirit took her second NYSS win of the season and her fifth overall tally in 10 yearly starts. The So Surreal-Caviart Elena filly is trained by Gregory for Edmund Namiotka Jr., Carol Namiotka and Linda Mund. She raised her bankroll to $326,339 with her sixth win in 17 career outings. Her backers received $12.58.
Driver Jason Bartlett swept the $27,397 New York Excelsior Series divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies. He first won with Lenna ($3.86), a 10-1/2-length winner in 1:50.3 for Deborah Daguet, then piloted Carry Back ($3.34) to a half-length, 1:53 score for Linda Toscano.
Leon Bailey had a driving hat trick on the 14-race program. Bartlett, Colin Kelly and Braxten Boyd had driving doubles. Trainers Jessica Okusko and Enrico Robinson sent out two winners each.
Tioga Downs will host its next card on Friday, Aug. 28, starting at 6:15 p.m.
(With files from Tioga Downs)