Delaware County Fair: Sadbirdstillsing flies to Buckette victory

Sadbirdstillsing picked up a Grand Circuit credit when she took Wednesday afternoon's $80,000 Buckette for sophomore trotting fillies at the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair in 1:54 for driver Todd McCarthy and trainer Tony Alagna.

Starting from the outside post seven, Sadbirdstillsing left out some and was able to drop into fourth as Pizza Bianca (Andy Miller) made 1-2 favorite Nymeria (Matt Kakaley) work past a 27 2/5 quarter to get to the front. Nymeria would then back down the half to 57 2/5 as HL Olmaya (Harry Landy) tipped out of third, giving cover to Sadbirdstillsing.

Rather than continue to track the cover, McCarthy sent Sadbirdstillsing three-wide early in the backstretch, and she was able to clear HL Olmaya to take over the first-up position passing the 1:26 three-quarters. That brush also put Sadbirdstillsing on even-terms with Nymeria, and Sadbirdstillsing was able to continue her bid on the last turn to take the top spot. Nymeria tried to battle back through the lane, but Sadbirdstillsing stayed in front to prevail by a length, with Pizza Bianca back in third.

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"It's definitely a pretty fast half, and it's a track you've got to be pretty aggressive on, so it's a lot of fun to drive at," McCarthy said after the race. "I know her there a little bit and she's a really classy filly. Tony's always got his horses spot-on and ready, so when they say they're ready to go, you can give them a shot and they'll be thereabouts."

A daughter of Chapter Seven, Sadbirdstillsing was bred by Crawford Farms and is owned by them in partnership with Pryde Stables Inc. She has four wins, six seconds and three thirds in 22 starts, has earned $371,984 and paid $6.00 to win as the 2-1 second choice.