Tioga: Sophomore pacing fillies race in Empire Breeders Classic elims

Two Empire Breeders Classic eliminations for sophomore pacing fillies occurred on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs, with wins going to Hen Party and Pettycoat Business.

In the first $12,500 elimination, Alleyesonme AS (Scott Zeron) led through a 26 1/5 opening quarter and a 55 2/5 half but was overtaken by Dragon Roll (Dexter Dunn) prior to the 1:22 3/5 three-quarters. Hen Party was two-wide in second after Dragon Roll took charge, with So Rude (Brian Sears) following Hen Party.

Hen Party managed to wrestle the top spot away from Dragon Roll before the fillies turned into the lane, and though So Rude rallied strongly three-wide in the stretch, she ran out of racetrack as Hen Party hit the wire a nose to the good in 1:50. Dragon Roll was third, followed by Galleria Gal (Matt Kakaley), JK Finendandy (Tim Tetrick), and Alleyesonme AS.

A daughter of Roll With Joe, Hen Party is trained by Tony Alagna for owner Crawford Farms Racing. Hen Party won for the seventh time in 24 career starts, and she has now earned $283,891. She paid $4.50 to win.

Pettycoat Business (Zeron) brushed to the top beyond the 27 2/5 opening quarter in the other elimination, taking over from Eye Popping (Tetrick). Pettycoat Business reached the half in 56 2/5 and the three-quarters in 1:24, and a 28 second final quarter sealed a two length victory in 1:52. Moaning Lisa (Dunn) came in second from first-up, and Discoforadollar (David Miller) closed well for third. Turnthefrownaround (Corey Callahan) got fourth, and Eye Popping faded to fifth.

Brian Brown trains Pettycoat Business, a filly by Art Major, for owners Michael Robinson, Robert Mondillo, R.B.H. Ventures Inc., and Gilbilly Stable. Unraced as a 2-year-old, Pettycoat Business has a record of 2-2-1 from five 2020 appearances, and she has pocketed $42,378. She was the favorite and returned $3.50 to win.