Hoosick Falls facing a rested pair

Hoosick Falls is fast, fit, and the defending champion in the Susan B. Anthony Handicap. To repeat in the six-furlong $50,000 stakes at Finger Lakes for New York-bred fillies and mares, however, Hoosick Falls must prove can can outrun her competition while carrying 128 pounds on Sunday.

The 6-year-old Hoosick Falls, 10 for 16 lifetime at Finger Lakes, is assigned 11 pounds more than she carried when she led wire to wire to score by 2 1/4 lengths in the 2007 Susan B. Anthony and four pounds more than she handled when she easily won an overnight handicap three weeks ago.

Her two main rivals in the eight-horse field are both coming off long layoffs.

Talking Treasure, second in weights at 124 pounds, has been first or second in 8 of 10 lifetime starts, including an easy win in the 1 1/16-mile New York Oaks last September. She has not raced since finishing last of eight in the Floral Park at Belmont Park last Sept. 27.

Although her trainer, Charlton Baker, is off to a 16-for-65 start at the meet, he is only 3 for 28 with female sprinters returning from layoffs of longer than 180 days the past five years. That sampling includes a pair of fourth-place finishes by Storm on the Lake in the 2004 and 2005 Susan B. Anthony.

Sweet Lorena, third in the weights at 122 pounds, ended her 2007 campaign on a five-race winning streak and a 7-for-9 lifetime record, all as a 3-year-old. She has been off since November and is stepping up to stakes company for the first time. Her trainer, Michael Ferraro, is 3 for 25 with female sprinters returning from long layoffs, including an eighth with Watral's Dahlia in last year's Susan B. Anthony.