Er Sophia brushes aside Open opponents

Er Sophia gave no hope to her rivals as she cruised to an easy wire-to-wire victory in the Monticello Raceway harness racing Open Trot on Wednesday.

The five-year-old daughter of Swan For All sprinted away from the pack and captured the lead as the starting gate pulled away. Driver Michael Merton controlled the mare to :29.3, 1:00.2, and 1:29.4 splits in the first three panels, and Er Sophia blasted away from her five foes without any action from her pilot in the final quarter en route to a six-and-a-quarter-length 1:58.3 score.

Superiorcourt (Cory Stratton) was unable to follow the winner but finished second off a pocket trip. Awol Hanover (Brandon Parker) finished third.

ER SOPHIA REPLAY

Er Sophia, who performed as expected at 1/9, is now 15-for-78 lifetime with $78,194 in earnings. She has seven victories in 2021 for trainer Gary Messenger, who conditions for owners Brenda Messenger of Monticello and Scott Woogen of North Chesterfield.

Monticello Raceway will host eight races on Jul. 22 for its final card of the week. The program will start at 12:10 p.m. EDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink