Saratoga Harness: Annie O, Cowboy Candy rule in New York Sire Stakes

Annie O and Cowboy Candy had little difficulty in winning their respective $74,500 New York Sire Stakes divisions for rookie pacing fillies on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

With Leon Bailey in the bike from post one in the first split, Annie O won by a length and a half in 1:54 3/5 after she posted fractions of 27 2/5, 56 4/5 and 1:25 3/5. Too Pink To Pass (Lauren Tritton) rallied for second after getting shuffled back to last on the final turn and Huntsvilles Honey (Matt Kakaley) was third after she moved first-over out of fourth, then slid down into the pocket past three-quarters.

A daughter of Huntsville, Annie O is co-owned by trainer Andrew Stafford with Bonnie Benson. The Southwind Farms-bred has a summary of 4-0-0 from six outings, has pocketed $126,996 and paid $2.22 to win.

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In the other flight, Fendilicious (Braxten Boyd) led early but was overtaken by Cowboy Candy (Jason Bartlett) prior to the 29 1/5 quarter. From there, Cowboy Candy maintained the lead through middle-half fractions of 58 1/5 and 1:26 4/5 before she sprinted home in 27 3/5 to defeat Fendilicious by nine lengths in 1:54 2/5. Holly's Choice (Kakaley) finished third.

Aaron Lambert trains Cowboy Candy, a daughter of So Surreal bred by Eric Taddeo, for owner Chain Lightning Stables LLC. She has six wins and a second from seven appearances, has put away $188,450 and returned $2.10 to win.

Winning a trio of $20,000 New York Excelsior Series races were:

--Where Is The Love (by Huntsville and bred by Knutsson Trotting Inc., paid $2.10 to win) in 1:54 for driver Lauren Tritton, trainer Linda Toscano and owners Steven Held and Bill Elliott;

--Prop Bet (by American Courage and bred by owner Fiddler's Creek Stables LLC., paid $2.40 to win) in 1:55 4/5 for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Travis Alexander;

--Shadow Of A Girl (by Shadow Play and bred by owner/trainer Anette Lorentzon, paid $4.18 to win) in 1:54 3/5 for driver Jason Bartlett.