Woodside Charm shattered the North American record for two-year-old trotting fillies at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Thursday afternoon.
Drawing the rail in the $81,750 New York Sire Stakes event, Woodside Charm brought a 3-for-3 lifetime record into the start. Bet down as the race’s 1-5 favourite, the freshman daughter of Chapter Seven-Fireworks played catch me if you can with trainer Verlin Yoder in the sulky.
The sensational filly clicked off a first quarter of :27.3 and half in :55.2 and showed no signs of letting up trotting past three quarters in 1:24.1. The previous track record for two year old fillies of 1:57.2 was all but a memory at that point but what the timer said at the conclusion of the wire to wire victory was almost too unbelievable to fathom. Woodside Charm scored in 1:53.4, the third fastest mile in track history for a trotter and a new mark for two year old fillies.
The previous North American record on a half mile track was 1:55.2 for a freshman filly, a mark easily surpassed in the dazzling Thursday stakes victory by Woodside Charm. 1:53.4, an almost imaginable time for a two year old trotting filly, is now the time to beat for freshman high steppers moving forward and what a daunting task that will be as Woodside Charm enters the history books en route to staying undefeated.
Though her five-for-five record was broken in the record performance on Thursday, Winndevie (Trond Smedshammer) was incredible in defeat, finishing second by only a little more than two lengths in the eye-popping, record-setting mile.
The other division of the New York Sire Stakes for two year old trotting fillies went the way of Quincy Blue Chip (Chapter Seven-Sirenuse) who scored in 1:57.1, a time that heading into the day would have served as a new track record for freshman filly high steppers.
The Erv Miller-trained Quincy Blue Chip cruised out to the early lead for Jim Morrill, Jr. and didn’t face many anxious moments before recording her fourth Sire Stakes win of the season besting Amal Hall (Andy Miller) who kept her streak of finishing first or second in every career start intact.
Live racing continues on Friday night at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)