Barn Babe left the gate alertly from post four and sat a two hole trip behind Wygant Lady (Jeff Gregory) through fractions of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:25.3 before challenging in the stretch.
In deep stretch it looked as though Louise Kemp (Jim Marohn, Jr.) had put away her competition with a grueling first over move, but Cummings had Barn Babe firing on all cylinders out of the pocket. Barn Babe used a :28.3 final quarter to get up by three parts of a length in a new lifetime best of 1:54.2.
Steve Pratt trains and co-owns the daughter of Cash Hall–My Baby’s Momma with Nancy Pratt. It was the second win in the NYSS this season for Barn Babe, who posted her fourth win in seven seasonal starts.
In the first division of the NYSS, Trond Smedshammer used a second over trip with Proclaiming April to capture the first race of the night in 1:56.1 as the 1-2 betting favorite. Smedshammer also trains the daughter of Conway Hall–Lawn Tennis for owner-breeder White Birch Farm.
In the third and final division of the night, Brandon Simpson steered Lola De Vie to her fifth win in seven seasonal starts in a lifetime best equaling 1:55.3. Chris Ryder trains the daughter of Credit Winner–Fan Favourite for the Joie De Vie Farm.
With the win, Lola De Vie increased her seasonal earnings to more than $183,000 on the year, with the lion’s share coming from her Empire Breeders Classic victory earlier this month at Vernon Downs.
Four divisions of NYSS Excelsior Stakes were also held on Saturday night at Tioga with the winners being Blarney–Jeff Gregory (1:57.2), Suzies Little Vic (SAND VIC)–Jeff Gregory (1:58.2), Minnie Madness (MALABAR MAN)–Ivan Davies (1:58) and Pretty Crazy–Brandon Simpson (1:57.1).
Tioga Downs continues live racing action on Sunday (June 30) with a post time of 1:30 p.m. For more information on Tioga Downs visit www.tiogadowns.com.