Huntsville fillies sweep NYSS at Buffalo

HAMBURG, N.Y.  — Send It Down Slim (Huntsville-Rockinsangria)turned in the fastest harness racing mile of the two $51,000 (approx.) races in the New York Sire Stakes for the 2-year-old pacing fillies at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday afternoon (June 19) while Cowgirl Hanover (Huntsville-Code One) went gate to wire in taking the second division.

It was a great day for driver Mark MacDonald as he posted four victories on the card while trainer Ray Schnittker had three wins, one in the Sire Stakes and two in the Excelsior Series.

In the first race that featured four young ladies, Chanceoflightning (Jordan Stratton) set the fractions with a :30.3 and 1:00.4. Send It Down Slim (MacDonald) was sitting patiently in the garden spot and popped first over heading down the backstretch, quickly taking the lead.

Send It Down Slim ($9.20) and Chanceoflightning pulled away from the other two contestants going down the stretch and were primed for the final duel. But Send It Down Slim used a :27.3 final quarter mile to hold back Chanceoflightning by a length in 1:58.3 over the fast track. Calamity Hour (Jim Morrill Jr.) took the show spot.

MacDonald said a little pre-race scouting helped him with.the winning move down the backstretch the final time. “I got here early and watched Chanceoflightning warm up and I thought she was a little green so I made the move when I did.”

Owned by Grozcona Racing and trained by Schnittker, Send It Down Slim (Huntsville-Rockinsangria) picked up a ‘fat’ $25,250 check in her first career start.

In the second bracket, Cowgirl Hanover led every step of the way and beat Americanbeachdream in 1:58.4.

Off the starting gate, Cowgirl Hanover ($2.80) was able to secure the inside position from the rail and used solid fractions of :29.4, :59.4 and 1:30.1. Americanbeachdream (Brett Beckwith) and Martini Star (Morrill Jr.) each were looking for answers down the home stretch but couldn’t find any and had to settle for second and third place respectively.

“I had to be careful around that first turn, but once I did, I knew we were good to go,” McNair said of the trip aboard Cowgirl Hanover.  He added, “I could have busted her open more but I didn’t need to.”

Owned by NY Seb Inc. and conditioned by Jared Bako, Cowgirl Hanover put $25,750 in the bankroll with her maiden win.

The MacDonald-Schnittker tandem took two $20,000 divisions of the Excelsior Series. On Cloud Wine ($6.40) defeated Bulvilhighonmaggie by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:59.3 while Bronx Mixer ($4.20) pinned a 3-1/4 loss of Bulvillkidunotedna in 1:59.0.

Besta Brynn ($15.80) came from third place down the lane for driver Kevin Cummings and stunned the heavily favored Hanky Panky by a length in 2:00.1.

In the $14,000 Class A-Open pace for the fillies and mares, Oaxacan Dream N (Big Jim-Verde Lima) fired off to the lead from the seven post and rolled from there, holding back Summer Slash in 1:54.4. Imprincessgemma A (Morrill Jr.) rolled in for third.

Owned by the Vogel & Wags Nags LLC and trained by Maria Rice, it was the fifth win in 15 starts for the 8-year-old Oaxacan Dream N. The victory increased her 2024 earnings to $45,275 and $170,629 lifetime. She paid $6.50 to win.

Racing will return on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with 12 races set to go to the post.

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by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway