By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — Sophomore trotters of both sexes were on hand to compete for their share of $233,300 in purses in the New York Sire Stakes at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Aug. 24) night and a new track standard was established in the first set.
In the $115,600 division for fillies and mares, Sister Mary Maude (Crazy Wow-Perfect Mass) took a new lifetime mark and shattered the track record for 3-year-old trotting fillies after tripping out to victory.
Senorita Palema (Tyler Buter) shot to the front while Sister Mary Maude (Joe Bongiorno) settled in the garden spot for the duration. Senorita Palema led the single file, short field of six to through fractions of :28, :57.1 and 1:26.1 before heading into the final turn. It was there that Bongiorno tipped Sister Mary Maude from the pocket and drew alongside Senorita Palema at the head of the stretch. From there, they battled all the way to the line where Sister Mary Maude lunged to the lead by one-quarter length and stopped the clock in 1:54.2.
The time of 1:54.2 supplants the old standard of 1:55.1 set by Love A Good Story in 2020 which was also set in New York Sire Stake competition.
Sister Mary Maude ($3.90) pushed her seasonal earnings to $275,190 on the strength of her fourth win of the year for owners Burke Racing, Bill Switala, James Martin and Weaver Bruscemi. Ron Burke trains the David Hanson-bred filly.
Later in the $117,700 colts and gelding division, Keep Asking (Chapter Seven-Sensibility) pulled victory from the jaws of defeat as he rallied from sixth to take the win.
Fly By (Jason Bartlett) had a brief lead before Super Duper Cooper (Jim Morrill Jr.) came three-wide to take control at the quarter in :28.1. With the field in line, Super Duper Cooper backed down the half to a tepid :59, forcing an outer-flow to form led by Mister Melby (Jordan Stratton) who was followed by Crazy Brother Jim (Joe Chindano Jr.).
Positions remained unchanged as they made their way to three-quarters and at this point, Keep Asking (Tyler Buter), who was still sitting sixth, pulled off the pylons and went three-deep and was flying around the last turn. At the top of the stretch, Keep Asking was fourth as the favorite Fly By made a break from second, leaving Super Duper Cooper the one to catch. Keep Asking continued to gain on Super Duper Cooper, who was starting to give way. Morrill and Buter were both urging their mounts but in the shadow of the wire, Keep Asking got up and won by one-quarter length in 1:57.1.
It was the second NYSS win this year for Keep Asking ($16.20) who is owned by Bill Donovan, Joe Sbrocco, Jim Winske and George Ducharme, who also trains the filly. Donovan, Sbrocco and Winske also bred the winner.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug. 28) at 6 p.m. and there will be a $3,558 carryover in the Pick-5 in the first race and that pool will be guaranteed at $10,000 through the USTA Strategic Wagering Program.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.