Trainer Tracy Brainard and driver Jim Morrill Jr., the track’s leading driver, combined to win two of the three elimination races to move on to next Saturday’s $250,000 finals.
Others who will round out the field of nine 3-year-old pacing fillies include Cammy’s Heart, Fashion Week, Ginger And Fred, Kiss Me Kate, Melissa’s Fancy and Shanghai Lil.
In the first division, Brainard’s Yellow Diamond exploded from the eight hole to grab the lead and never look back. Yellow Diamond won by more than four lengths over Shanghai Lil (John Campbell) with Ginger And Fred (Dave Palone) finishing third. Yellow Diamond paced the mile in 1:51, a new lifetime mark.
Morrill Jr. noted Yellow Diamond was very strong right from the start of the race. “She did it so easy and we were on cruise control,” said Morrill Jr. in the winner’s circle with Yellow Diamond.
Morrill Jr. came right back in the second division with Shacked Up, another Brainard trained filly. This daughter of Western Terror filly was a winner in 1:52 with Kiss Me Kate (Jason Bartlett) second and Cammy’s Heart (Andy Miller) third.
“She’s also a real nice filly,” offered Morrill Jr., who said he’ll sleep on his decision on which filly to drive in the finals but was leaning toward Yelllow Diamond.
Interestingly, both Yellow Diamond and Shacked Up were supplemented into the Lynch for $15,000 each plus $1,000 starter’s fees by Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Fla.
The final division victor was Dawn’s Legacy with, George Brennan in the sulky. Trained by Anthony Mannino, Dawn’s Legacy nosed out Melissa’s Fancy (Campbell) at the wire with Fashion Week (Brian Sears), also trained by Brainard, finishing third.
Last year's Sweetheart winner Pedigree Snob (Chip Noble) and Warrawee Kay (Andrew McCarthy) were dueling early on in his race along with Perfectionist (Jason Bartlett) with fractions of :26.2 and :55.1 before Brennan made his move and got the lead, taking this field to the three-quarter pole in 1:22.3.
Brennan noted he didn’t want to get his horse involved early on and that strategy paid off.
Pedigree and Warrawee were both making their first starts of the 2009 season after coming off qualifying wins and stellar freshman years. (Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs)
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