Delaware County Fair: 2YO filliies tussle in Standardbred splits

Grand Circuit action on Wednesday's program at the Delaware County Fairgrounds began with a pair of $40,000 Standardbred divisions for 2-year-old fillies of both sexes.

In the race for the trotters, Heavenly Heart (Dexter Dunn) put up opening-half fractions of 30 and 1:00 4/5, but Brett Miller brought Cantab's Joy out of the pocket on the third turn and took over the lead before the 1:30 4/5 three-quarters. It was all Cantab's Joy from there as she kept clear to defeat Fiya (Tyler Smith) by 2 1/2 lengths in 2:00 1/5, and Heavenly Heart wound up third.

A daughter of Cantab Hall bred by Mahantongo Farms, Cantab's Joy is trained by Todd Luther for owner Greg Luther Racing LLC. This was her third win in nine career starts, she has now earned $46,992 and she paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite.

A Few Choice Words (Yannick Gingras) posted fractions of 28, 57 2/5 and 1:25 1/5 on her way to a 1:54 3/5 victory in the test for pacers. Track'n Field (Chris Page) was second after a pocket trip, 2 1/2 lengths behind A Few Choice Words, and Fresh Legs (Tim Tetrick) collected third.

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From the first crop of Courtly Choice, a Few Choice Words was bred by Knot Xzachallie Stable and was sent out by Blake MacIntosh for owner Clancy Farms. A Few Choice Words has a summary of 4-2-0 from nine lifetime tries, has pocketed $75,222 and returned $3.40 to win as the 3-5 choice.