Racing Star, Backstreet Sweetie in She's A Great Lady elims

August 23, 2008

Longshot Racing Star came home 2 1/2 lengths to the good and scored in 1:53.3 at Mohawk Saturday night in the first of two $35,000 eliminations for next week�s $780,000 Shes A Great Lady for freshman filly pacers.

It was essentially a two-horse race as Yannick Gingras hustled the chestnut daughter of Four Starzzz Shark to the early lead. By the three-eighths pole Steve Condren had sent Bob McIntosh trainee West Of L A forward to clear, allowing Racing Star ride the pocket spot to the head of the stretch. From there Gingras brushed past West Of LA and opened up a two-length advantage.

West Of LA held on for second, and Campus Cutie (Brian Sears) moved up for third.

Owned and bred by White Birch Farm of Allentown, New Jersey, Racing Star is trained by Jeff Stafford and can now boast two wins in six career starts. In this, her Mohawk debut, she shaved a full two seconds off her lifetime best clocking.

Backstreet Sweetie captured the second of the two She's A Great Lady eliminations by a nose, beating favorite Right Right in an identical 1:53.3 clocking.

Trained by John Pentland and driven by co-owner Mike Saftic, Backstreet Sweetie held the lead early but gave way to Break The News and Mark MacDonald through the back side. She battled back late in the stretch and managed to get a whisker in front despite strong challenges from Right Right, on her outside, and Fashion Week (John Campbell), who captured third. Break The News settled for fourth.

�I wasn�t sure (if we�d won),� Saftic confessed. �She got a little steppy at the wire, and when we pulled up I asked the started who won it. I knew it was close.�

Backstreet Sweetie was scratched sick from her last scheduled start, the Robert Stewart Stakes on Aug. 10, and Saftic acknowledges there were some concerns about her endurance tonight. �She started off being a nice filly, maybe the talk of the town. And then we missed the Robert Stewart and the Eternal Camnation because of sickness. But she worked good on Monday. I was more worried about her health than her conditioning. John (Pentland) has a bit of a virus going through the barn.

�I got to the front early," Saftic continued. "Halfway in the turn I was on top. When I had to re-move and then sit there first-over, I was a little concerned, with her having had three weeks off and not quite knowing how she�d be down to the wire. Hopefully if we can keep her healthy, things will work out next week.�

Backstreet Sweetie, a daughter of Dragon Again, now has three wins and a third in four lifetime starts to her credit. At the end of July she defeated West Of LA in the Whenuwishuponastar final at Mohawk. (WEG)

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