Vernon: Test Of Faith romps in return to NY Sire Stakes program

After suffering just her second career defeat in the Tompkins-Geers at the Meadowlands on July 31, Test Of Faith returned to her winning ways in a New York Sire Stakes tilt for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday night at Vernon Downs. In the other split for the group, Think Of Galaxies took advantage of bad fortune for Heart Of Mine to pull an upset.

Driven by David Miller in the $56,000 event, Test Of Faith got to the lead from post five, stepped off fractions of 28 2/5, 57 1/5, and 1:25 1/5, then drew off in the lane with ease en route to a seven length decision in 1:51 3/5. Purameri (Leon Bailey) held second after sitting in the pocket, and So Diva (Mark MacDonald) advanced from fifth to third in the last quarter.

A daughter of Art Major bred by Fred Hertrich, Test Of Faith is trained by Brett Pelling for owners Mel Segal, Kentuckiana Racing Stable, and Eddie Grand. She has 14 wins and two seconds from 16 lifetime tries, and she has now earned $707,050. She paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 favorite.

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Back in the opening $55,000 New York Sire Stakes flight, Heart Of Mine (Scott Zeron), also dispatched at 1-9, had an easy time through a 27 4/5 opening quarter and a 58 1/5 half, but disaster struck coming to the 1:27 4/5 three-quarters as she suffered broken equipment and made a break, leaving pocket-sitter Think Of Galaxies (MacDonald) in command. From there, Think Of Galaxies held sway, defeating a closing Delightful Z Tam (Pat Lachance) by half a length in a 1:54 2/5 mile. DC Batgirl (Matt Kakaley) came in third.

John McDermott trains Think Of Galaxies, a So Surreal filly, for breeder/co-owner Peter Kleinhans and co-owner Jonathan Klee Racing. Think Of Galaxies has a record of 5-2-3 from 17 trips behind the gate, has banked $137,000, and returned $21.40 to win as the 9-1 third choice.