Racine Bell defeats Test Of Faith in $143,000 Perfect Sting

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Racine Bell (So Surreal) and her driver Jason Bartlett took command of the 10-horse harness racing field in the $143,000 Perfect Sting and paced best to win the event in a personal- and stakes-record 1:47.2 at The Meadowlands on Saturday (July 2).

Test Of Faith – the 2021 Dan Patch Horse of the Year – drew post 10, which did not stop her supporters from making her the overwhelming favorite at 3-5, while Racine Bell was the fourth choice at 6-1 leaving from post 6.

Bartlett wasted no time launching Racine Bell to the front over Gia’s Surreal, with Watch Me Now N and Fire Start Hanover lining behind them. Test Of Faith sat sixth into the :26.2 first quarter. Those positions did not change until Test Of Faith took to chasing first over, gaining slowly as Racine Bell cut the half in :54.2.

All of the action focused upon Racine Bell’s flashy three-quarters in 1:21.3 and Test Of Faith closing into second while Gia’s Surreal, Watch Me Now N, Lyons Sentinel and the others remained out of range. Racine Bell easily coasted over the line 1-1/2 lengths over Test Of Faith, with Gia’s Surreal getting the show spot and Lyons Sentinel completing the superfecta.

RACINE BELL REPLAY

“Tonight, I kind of let her go at her own speed and I got a little bit of a breather in the second panel,” Jason Bartlett said. “Then I let her do her own thing. Around the last turn she was still grabbing me pretty good, so I felt pretty confident.

“We’ve had a very difficult time with her running out,” Bartlett also said. “Over time we found something to help her to go a lot straighter. I think we’re on the right track solving that and she’s gotten a lot faster going straighter. She has gotten better and better every year.”

The final time was Racine Bell’s fastest win and three ticks off of Shartin N’s 1:46.4 track record for pacing mares. But it did best the stakes record 1:48.3 set by Camille in 2013 when the race was then named the “Artiscape”.

David Dewhurst trains the five-year-old daughter for owners Chris S. and Dale G. Lawton. She has now won 27 races from 63 starts and earned $903,966 in her career.

Racine Bell paid $15.80 to win.

To read about Bella Bellini’s win in the Six Pack earlier on the card, click here.

To read about Alrajah One IT’s upset victory in the Crawford Farms Open, click here.

To read about Bulldog Hanover matching the 1:46 all-age world record in the Roll With Joe, click here.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Frank Cotolo, for the Meadowlands