Freedom Crossing takes first leg of "The Dandy" in impression fashion

Saturday night at Tioga Downs kicked off the first leg of "The Dandy" pacing series for 3–5 year old filles and mares.

Mike Micallef wasted no time moving Freedom Crossing to the front and paced through fractions of 28, 56.4, and 1:24.2 before easing away from her eight rivals in a new lifetime best of 1:52.2.

Kevin Johnson trains the 4-year-old daughter of Artiscape – Bunker To Bunker for the Bay Pond Racing Stable of Paoli, PA.

It was the second win in seven seasonal starts for Freedom Crossing, who with the win increased her seasonal earnings to more than $11,000.

Glacier Girl (Corey Braden) paced home late to get second, while Odds On Design (Greg Merton) used a two-hole trip to secure third.

In the second division of "The Dandy", V'La Faire was four wide down the stretch and reached in the final strides on the wire with Ed Hensley to win in a new lifetime best of 1:54.2.

It was the second win of the year in five starts for the 4-year-old daughter of Village Jove – Trade Fair for Oakhurst Farms of Lancaster, NY and trainer Richard Tomaszewski.

Fern Paquet Jr., Ed Hensley, and Mike Micallef each posted driving doubles on the night's 10-race card.

Tioga Downs continues live racing on Sunday, June 19th at 1:30 pm and will feature the Miss Versatility Trotting Series for open trotting mares in race number 6.

For more information on Tioga Downs please visit us online at www.tiogadowns.com.