Tioga Downs: Dominant performances by Courtly Choice, Youaremycandygirl in Empire Breeders Classics
Heavy favorites Courtly Choice and Youaremycandygirl were both impressive in winning their respective Empire Breeders Classic finals for sophomore pacers on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs.
Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice (David Miller) bagged the $272,025 colt final in a track record clocking of 1:48 3/5. He sped into the lead around Hitman Hill (Brett Miller) at the 26 4/5 opening quarter, then got to the half in 54 4/5 with American History (Yannick Gingras) stepping first-up from third at that point. American History's move stalled out by the time they got to three-quarters in 1:21 1/5, and Courtly Choice kicked away off the final bend, winning by 2 3/4 lengths. American History was able to drop into the pocket off the last turn and easily held second, with Real Surreal (Corey Callahan) brushing from eighth to third in the final quarter.
The time of 1:48 3/5 lowered the previous Tioga track record for a 3-year-old colt pacer of 1:48 4/5 that had belonged to Heston Blue Chip since 2012.
"As a 2-year-old he was a real nice colt early on," recalled winning trainer Blake MacIntosh. "He set a track record up at Saratoga in 53 and then he got tortured up at Vernon. That took a little bit of heart out of him. We took it easy for a little bit and he got a little off. We took him to the Breeders Crown, and he just didn't fare well there. When he was training back he was a different horse. He had more go, wanted to do everything, and was just paying attention to everything.
"I will sit down with everybody tomorrow morning, and we will either supplement to the Messenger on Saturday or go to the Yonkers sire stakes on Tuesday, which I'm thinking we're going to do. David can't drive him on Saturday because he has to go to Canada, so I think we'll just wait for Tuesday."
MacIntosh trains Courtly Choice, an Art Major colt, for owners Hutt Racing Stable, Mac And Heim Stables, Plouffe, and Touch Stone Farms. Courtly Choice is now a ten-time winner in his life, and he has now earned $670,808. He was the 2-5 favorite and returned $2.80 to win.
In the $270,425 filly final, Youaremycandygirl (Gingras) left the gate fast from post six and was well-rated on the front-end through an opening-half of 27 3/5 and 56 3/5. She scooted away from her rivals heading to the 1:23 2/5 three-quarters, continued to pour it on around the final bend, and was totally geared down through the lane, scoring by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:50 4/5. Alexis Faith (Jim Morrill Jr.) was trapped in on the inside in the three-hole and escaped in the lane to get up for second, with I'm Trigger Happy (Jim Marohn Jr.), who had the two-hole trip behind the eventual winner, fading back to third.
The defending Dan Patch Award winner for the division, Youaremycandygirl is a daughter of American Ideal trained by Ron Burke for owner W.J. Donovan. This was her 15th career victory, and she has now earned $1,253,821. Dispatched at 1-9, Youaremycandygirl paid $2.20 to win.