Vernon: American Ideal fillies triumph in NY Sire Stakes

Gotthegreenlight and A Girl That Twirls came away with victories in the two New York Sire Stakes divisions for 3-year-old pacing fillies that were held on Friday afternoon at Vernon Downs.

Driver Jason Bartlett sent Gotthegreenlight on a successful front-end mission in the opening $60,300 flight. She blasted to the top from the outside post seven, clicked off fractions of 27 1/5, 55 4/5, and 1:23 4/5, and used a 27 4/5 last quarter to seal a two length win over Patsville (Tyler Buter) in a 1:51 3/5 mile. Kele Kele (Mark MacDonald) finished third.

After a track record win at Buffalo on May 25, Gotthegreenlight could only manage a fourth-place finish last time out at Monticello. Bartlett and trainer Nifty Norman were both confident she'd rebound today, though, and were proven right.

"I knew coming here she'd be a different horse and Nifty thought so too," remarked Bartlett.

A daughter of American Ideal bred by Stephen Dey, Gotthegreenlight is owned by Patricia Stable and Kovach Stables LLC. She has a record of 10-1-0 from 16 career starts, and she has now earned $315,166. Sent off as the favorite, she paid $3.70 to win.

In the other $61,400 2split A Girl that Twirls (Brian Sears) shot to the top from post seven and chopped out a 27 3/5 opening quarter, but she was shuffled back to third before the 55 2/5 half as Lee Loo (Tim Tetrick) and American Ticket (MacDonald) both moved past her. American Ticket would go on to hit three-quarters in 1:24, with Sears tipping out first-over approaching that marker after Max Contract (Andy Miller) made a break while trying to move up uncovered on the final bend.

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A Girl That Twirls went by American Ticket in the upper part of the stretch, got some separation on Lee Loo as she waited to angle out, and then held sway to the wire, prevailing by three-quarters of a length in 1:52. Lee Loo had to settle for second, and Valar Dohaeris (Ake Svanstedt) got third.

"She had a real good 2-year-old year, and we're looking for more of the same at 3. She's come back well," said Sears.

The victorious American Ideal filly was bred by Crawford Farms and is trained by Deborah Daguet for owner D Racing Stable Inc. A Girl That Twirls won for the seventh time from 14 lifetime tries, has now pocketed $201,047, and returned $16.40 to win after being sent off at 7-1.