Tioga: Test Of Faith heads Empire Breeders Classic champions

David Miller steered filly Test Of Faith and colt I'll Drink To That to victories in two of the three Empire Breeders Classic races for 3-year-old pacers that occurred on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs. Town Gossip, piloted by Joe Bongiorno, took the other flight for the colts and geldings.

Test Of Faith was sent off at 1-9 in the $214,000 event for the fillies and didn't disappoint, prevailing in 1:51 1/5. She sat in the pocket behind Heart Of Mine (Scott Zeron) through opening-half fractions of 26 4/5 and 56, then came to the outside prior to the 1:23 3/5 three-quarters. After matching strides with Heart Of Mine on the final bend, Test Of Faith grabbed the lead turning for home and went on to win by a length and a quarter over Think Of Galaxies (Mark MacDonald). Heart Of Mine wound up third.

"She's a good horse, Scotty's filly is, and she looked a bit wound up today," said Miller. "I got away and my filly was comfortable. As long as I didn't have to come before the half, I figured I could just sit, and then when somebody came, I could move her over.

"She's been great all year, and today was just the same. She does whatever I ask her to do, and she's really nice."

Trained by Brett Pelling for owners Mel Segal, Kentuckiana Racing Stable, and Eddie Gran, Test Of Faith won for the 15th time in 17 tries and has now banked $814,050. A daughter of Art Major bred by Fred Hertrich, Test Of Faith paid $2.10 to win.

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I'll Drink To That raced in the first $104,000 Empire Breeders Classic test for colts and geldings, and he watched from fourth as Mullinax (Yannick Gingras), King James Express (Jason Bartlett), and Natameri (Matt Kakaley) all took a turn on the lead through a 26 3/5 quarter and a 54 2/5 half. Miller fired I'll Drink To That to the outside beyond the half-mile marker and quickly moved up to challenge Natameri, though he was able to counter and quicken on the inside to keep I'll Drink To That parked at the 1:22 1/5 three-quarters.

Natameri continued to fend off I'll Drink To That around the last turn and into the lane, even getting a bit of advantage again in upper stretch. I'll Drink To That just wouldn't go away, though, and one final push late in the going got him the win by half a length over a game Natameri in 1:50 2/5. Mullinax was the third-place finisher.

"At the quarter I felt like it was going to set up. Jason moved his horse to the front, and Matt was still out until past the three-eighths," remarked Miller. "I was just hoping my horse could withstand first-up.

"I was close to clearing Matt up the backstretch, but his horse came back on, so I just kind of sat around the last turn. He still felt like he still had some go left. I was just hoping he had enough to get up."

An American Ideal colt bred by Winbak Farm, I'll Drink To That is trained by Chris Ryder for owners Craig Henderson, Lawrence Minowitz, Robert Mondillo, and Oompa's Farm Inc. I'll Drink To That has put together a record of 5-6-1 from 17 trips behind the gate, and he has now earned $229,489. He returned $5.90 to win as the 9-5 second choice.

In the other $104,000 Empire Breeders Classic clash for the boys, Town Gossip (Joe Bongiorno) hustled away quickly from the pole position, but he was more than happy to yield and sit in the two-hole behind 1-5 choice American Courage (Kakaley) after the 27 1/5 quarter. American Courage continued on the point through a 54 2/5 half, a 1:22 three-quarters, and around the far turn, but he weakened and drifted out in the stretch, giving Town Gossip a seam to come through on the inside to get the win by three-quarters of a length in 1:49 4/5. Southwind Petyr (Jason Bartlett) roughed it from first-up and was a good second, with Major Bean (Jordan Stratton) third after a second-over journey.

"There was only really one gameplan, and that was to follow American Courage. I figured Matt would be on the move at some point. I kind of figured he wouldn't rush him out there because he's a smart driver, and he knew it kind of looked like a two-horse race on paper," stated Bongiorno. "Once I was able to get him off the gate so good, I secured my spot, and then I was just waiting for Matt.

"He had a good run in him today. He felt really good scoring down. He's normally a really quiet horse and today he was up on the bit. I think he was happy to be on a bigger track for the second week in-a-row. He gets around the halves fine, but when he stretches out on a bigger track, he seems to be stronger."

Another son of American Ideal bred by Winbak Farm, Town Gossip is trained by Jenn Bongiorno for owner Robert Weinstein. Town Gossip is now a seven-time winner from 19 lifetime starts, and he has put away $332,008. The 9-5 second choice, he paid $5.90 to win.