Cee Bee Yes had an ambitious mission a month ago in the Hambletonian Oaks, but is now back at Freehold Raceway, the scene of her past successes, for the $40,000 Helen Smith Trot, which will be contested on Friday (September 5).
The Helen Smith is restricted to New Jersey-sired three-year-old filly trotters and sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey.
The $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks on August 2 at the Meadowlands Racetrack would have been quite a feather in the cap of the filly, a daughter of Muscles Yankee – Enbeecee, but she broke at the start and was never a factor.
She won a qualifier on August 21 at Freehold in 2:00.3 in preparation for the Helen Smith, where she will start from Post 3 in the field of six. She has been installed as the 9-5 morning line favourite.
“Cee Bee Yes made an unfortunate break at the start of the Oaks,” trainer Julie Miller noted. “Since then, we wanted to target the Helen Smith at Freehold. She has had success at Freehold in the past. She is good and healthy, and ready to return to action.”
At Freehold, Cee Bee Yes won the $33,075 Lady Suffolk on May 3. At two, she was second to Chocolate Crisp in the $58,025 Marion Dancer.
In New Jersey Sires Stakes action at the Meadowlands, she won the $150,000 final at two and was second in the $100,000 final for three-year-olds on May 31.
A $45,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase, Cee Bee Yes has banked $273,182 for owners Jason and Douglas Allen of Vincentown, NJ. This year she has finished first or second in four of eight starts and has a lifetime record of six wins, five seconds and two thirds from 19 starts.
With her husband, Andy, on the sidelines, recovering from a racing accident, Miller is turning the lines over to Steve Smith.
“Steve drove her last year and got along real well with her,” she noted. “As a trainer, I take each start race by race. As long as she is healthy, she still has stakes racing to compete in.”
The field for the $40,000 Helen Smith, the seventh race on September 5, appears below.
1 – Yoga – Brett Miller – 5-2
2 – Shelikescandy – James Marshall IV – 12-1
3 – Cee Bee Yes – Steve Smith – 9-5
4 – You And I – Ed Lohmeyer – 7-1
5 – Celebrity Fantasy – Eric Abbatiello – 20-1
6 – Mistresswithmuscle – Jeff Gregory – 5-2
(SBOANJ)