A pair of the best three-year-old trotting fillies on the Grand Circuit will be at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon (September 6) and will compete in a division of the New York Sire Stakes.
Barn Bella and Celebrity Ruth will go head to head in the second of the $59,100 NYSS divisions (carded as Race 4), and it looks to be a heavyweight battle for the ages with possible track record implications.
Barn Bella (Conway Hall-Bravissima) heads into the race as the second richest ($329,584) and third fastest (1:51.3) three-year-old trotting filly in North America. She has scored 10 wins from 12 starts this year, and has made breaks the only two times in which she hasn’t won.
Having campaigned exclusively in New York State this year, Barn Bella has won five legs of the NYSS as well as the $228,250 Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon Downs in 1:51.3, which was her lifetime best effort.
In her last start (on August 18), Barn Bella was racing against older male trotters in an Open at Tioga Downs and made a break in the first turn while everyone was jockeying for position. The Wednesday test will be her first start back in 18 days and she will look to rebound with a big effort in the short six-horse field.
Barn Bella will be a big hometown favourite, as all of her connections are from only a few miles of Batavia Downs. Co-owner/trainer Steve Pratt, co-owner Wanda Polisseni and driver Jeff Gregory all call Batavia Downs their ‘home track’ and will converge there with high expectations for their star performer.
Barn Bella has drawn Post 6 and has been made the 8-5 morning line favourite.
Looking to spoil the homecoming is Celebrity Ruth (Archangel-Celebrity Obsession) who will head into the test fresh off of a win in the $119,010 Hudson Trot final at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday, September 2.
Celebrity Ruth was unraced at two but has made up for time lost this year. She has won three legs of the NYSS as well as the aforementioned Hudson Trot. She also collected a major cheque after finishing second to Barn Bella in the EBC. In all, Celebrity Ruth’s five wins and five seconds have put $280,938 in her bank account this year. She has a lifetime mark of 1:53.4 taken at Tioga Downs, but has been race timed in 1:52.1 at Vernon.
Trond Smedshammer trains Celebrity Ruth. Regular driver Jason Bartlett is scheduled to drive once again. The pair is set to depart from Post 2 and has been listed at 3-1.
In the first $59,100 division (Race 3) Mamora Bay is scheduled to start at Batavia only four days after having competed in the Hudson Trot as well where she finished third behind Celebrity Ruth.
Prior to Saturday, Mamora Bay (Chapter Seven-Giulie Bi) had been off since August 1 as she was trying to get over the effects of a virus she has been dealing with all year, as her trainer, Sam Schillaci, reported in a recent interview. With that said, she did look good while qualifying twice at Northfield Park in advance of that big stakes event.
In the Hudson, Mamora Bay got away sixth and was forced to come third-over in a dull outer flow. She had to overcome a strong front-runner, the rain and a breaking horse around the last turn, but still closed well to finish third and was beaten less than four lengths.
With $66,331 on her card so far in 2017, Mamora Bay has only recorded one win in six starts this year, and her connections are hoping she gets back to her form of last year now that she is back in action.
Sam Schillaci will be aboard once again, and the duo has been named the early favourite at 9-5. They will start from Post 3.
Looking to challenge for the spoils will be Maewegonow (Deweycheatumnhowe-Mauresmo), who is the highest money earner ($91,220) competing in the leg. She also only has one NYSS win to her credit.
Maewegonow has shown versatility racing on the front end as well as from behind, and in this short field could be successful with either strategy. She has hit the board in seven out of 11 starts and took a lifetime mark of 1:55.3 in her last outing at Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs in an overnight event.
Charlie Norris trains and drives Maewegonow who has drawn Post 2 and has been tabbed at odds of 5-2.
The current track record for three-year-old trotting fillies is 1:57.2 set by Cowgirl Hall in 2012 and matched by Bouncing Bax in 2013.
There will also be two divisions of the $15,000 Excelsior ‘A’ Series on Wednesday that have been programmed as Races 6 and 7.
Post time for the first race Wednesday is 5 p.m.
(Batavia Downs)