Hello Great Mate scores in Friday Tioga feature

Hello Great Mate and Lewayne Miller used a front-end tactic to take home Friday night's $16,500 featured Fillies and Mares Open Handicap pace.

Leaving from post position number three, Miller cut through fractions of 27.3 and 58.1 before Mike Micallef moved Billie Bluechip first over.

The field turned down the backside and Miller accelerated through a third quarter in 28, tripping three quarters in 1:26.1.

Turning for home, Micallef and Billie Bluechip continued with first-over pressure, but was not strong enough to get by Hello Great Mate in the stretch.

The mile of 1:54.4 was a new seasonal best for the 4-year-old daughter of Allamerican Ingot – Cheery Hello, who is trained by Erv Miller for Kentuckiana Racing Stable of Lexington, KY.

Hello Great Mate returned $15.80 to win.

Billie Bluechip (Mike Micallef) held on for second, while Lizzie’s Dream (Michael Merton) was third.

Fern Paquet Jr. posted a driving triple on the night's nine-race card, while 2011 leading driver, Ed Hensley scored a double.

Tioga Downs continues live racing on Saturday, July 9th at 6:50 pm.

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