Buffalo: Track record falls in NYSS dead-heat

The 2-year-old filly pacers in the second $50,400 division of the New York Sire Stakes learned a couple of valuable lessons at Buffalo Raceway on Wednesday night (July 7) -- sharing is a good thing.

A Girl That Twirls (Chris Lems) and April Angel (Jim Morrill Jr.) finished in a dead-heat for the victory and the tandem also had to share a new track record in doing so as they toured the half mile oval in 1:55 2/5 over the fast track. It eclipsed the old mark of 1:55 3/5 established on July 3, 2019 by Fashion Hall (Tyler Buter).

In the other division, Twenty Grand ($2.80) showed she was worth more than that in beating Symphony Hall by three-quarter of a length in 1:56 4/5.

But the talk of the night was the deadlock between A Girl That Twirls (American Ideal-Heels On The Beach) and April Angel (American Ideal-Royal Distraction).

"She (A Girl That Twirls) raced phenomenal, especially being on the outside going around the final turn," driver Chris Lems said. "She just kept digging in."

Jim Morrill Jr., who was in the bike behind April Angel ($3.60) said, "I didn't realize it was a track record or a dead-heat. I thought maybe (A Girl That Twirls) would bobble a little bit in the stretch to give us an edge but she kept coming and my horse came back a bit in the end."

A Girl That Twirls ($5.60), who entered undefeated in two qualifiers, is owned by D Racing Stable and is trained by Deborah Daguet.

April Angel is co-owned by Nanticoke Racing Inc., Jeremy Pentoney and Keesha Givens. She is conditioned by Les Givens. It was her first triumph after a second-place finish in her career debut.

In the other bracket, Twenty Grand (Mark MacDonald), after setting the tempo, had to rally and was able to turn back Symphony Girl (Morrill Jr.) and Lorrie Sue (Kevin Cummings).

"She's (Twenty Grand) green so I was glad to see that five (Lorrie Sue) come up alongside and grabbed her attention," said MacDonald after the race. "I took it easy with Twenty Grand around the turns but it was good to come back nice in the stretch."

Setting splits of 28 4/5, 58 and 1:27 4/5, Twenty Grand (Huntsville-Up Front Kellie Jo) looked in deep trouble turning for home as Lorrie Sue was able to grab about a half-length advantage. But Twenty Grand didn't waver and stayed strong to pull off the comeback victory.

Co-owned by trainer Ray Schnittker, Steven Arnold and Mark Ford, it was the second victory in three career tries for Twenty Grand. The win upped his bankroll to $33,975

Liewhentruthwilldo ($4.60) wired the field in 1:57 to collect the victory in the first $15,000 division of the Excelsior A Series. Driven by Morrill Jr., Liewhentruthwilldo beat Patsville (MacDonald) by 1-1/2 lengths with Ashlee's Supreme (Greg Merton) finishing in third.

The other bracket saw a big upset as King Princess (Lems) registered a $25.80 score in 1:57 2/5 over Seahuntsidealbeach (MacDonald) by 2-1/2 lengths. Nadina Hanover rolled in for third place.

The $6,300 Excelsior B event, a non-betting affair, had Center Attention (Denny Bucceri) collect a head decision over Manhunt (Kevin Cummings).

Morrill Jr. and David McNeight III completed the night with triples while Givens and Cassandra Johnson had a training doubles on the card.

Racing will continue on Friday night at 5 p.m. with a nine-race card scheduled. There are just five programs remaining in the 2021 live racing season.

-edited release (Brian Mazurek for Buffalo)