Tioga: Hen Party impresses in Empire Breeders Classic win

Hen Party had to do the hard work from first-over but took the lead in the stretch and went on to an eye-catching 1:49 2/5 triumph in the $223,500 Empire Breeders Classic final for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs. That time just missed the track record for the division by two-fifths of a second.

Starting from post two, Hen Party got away in third with Andrew McCarthy driving and waited in that position while So Rude went out from post six and roared through a 26 2/5 opening quarter. So Rude maintained the lead at the 55 1/5 half, but Hen Party came to the outside prior to that point.

So Rude managed to resist Hen Party's advance to the 1:22 three-quarters, but Hen Party surged forward to join So Rude on the lead on the far turn and then forged her way by late on the bend. From there it was all Hen Party as she widened her margin all the way to the wire, winning by 3 1/4 lengths. Galleria Gal (Matt Kakaley) was second from the pocket, with Dragon Roll (Dexter Dunn) third.

Trained by Tony Alagna, Hen Party is a daughter of Roll With Joe owned by Crawford Farms Racing. Hen Party, who has a record of 5-1-1 from seven starts in 2020, won for the eighth time in her life, and she has a career bankroll of $395,641. Hen Party was the 6-5 second choice and paid $4.40 to win.