Gural Hanover’s victory in his $59,100 division of the New
York Sires Stakes for sophomore colts and geldings on Tuesday afternoon (July
15) was an eye-opening one when Jimmy Morrill, Jr. guided the big altered son
of Crazed-Givemearing to a new over-all trotting track record of 1:55.2.
It was the fastest trotting mile in the 58-year history of
the Mighty M and it erased the former standard of 1:55.4 set by Man About Town
in 2007. In doing so Gural Hanover set a new standard for 3 year-old
trotters expunging the 1:57.1 mark co-held by Green Day (2007) ,Gaelic And
Garlic (2012) and Ex King (2013).
Morrill also won the second $59,100 NYSS split with Zoey De
Vie in 1:57.3 and he was victorious in three Excelsior Stakes which gave him
five winners on the card.
But Gural Hanover was the overwhelming star of the day.
In against his arch rival Expressive Action (Mike Simon)
Morrill chose to send Gural Hanover to the lead from the four-hole on the hot
and humid afternoon. They gained command on the first turn and cruised by the
first quarter in :28.2. From there Morrill let the big fellow ramble past
the half in :57.2 two full lengths ahead of Expressive Action and that was as
close as Mike Simon’s trotter could get to Morrill’s.
At the third stanza Gural Hanover had a three- length lead
which was opened to four at the wire. Expressive Action finished second with
Hallanet and Trond Smedshammer another length back in third position.
“He’s push button,” Morrill said of Gural Hanover in
the winner’s circle after the race. “You can leave with him, put him in a hole
or do whatever you want and you can drive him with two fingers. He’s a monster
and a real pleasure to sit behind real pleasure to sit behind.”
Lightly raced Gural Hanover only had one start as a freshman
and was victorious in 2:00 at Balmoral Park in late September. This far this
season the big bold-going gelding now has four wins; one second and one
third in six seasonal starts and his bankroll has swelled to over
$104,000.
Owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Little E and
Panhellenic Stables and trained by Ron Burke the winner returned a $2.30 win
mutuel.
Morrill, unquestionably the dominant force on the NYSS
circuit, also copped the second $59,100 NYSS split with Zoey De Vie, a Conway
Hall-Pauls Wink gelding trained by Heidi Rohr.
In that contest Flyhawk El Dorado and driver Mark MacDonald
seemed to have everything under control as they led Zoey De Vie and odds-on
favorite Cash Me Out (Mickey McGivern) through fractions of :28.3; :59; and 1:28.4.
However, as Flyhawk El Dorado rounded the final turn the trotter went off
stride which opened an easy path to the finish for Zoey De Vie who rallied and
kept Cash Me Out at bay to score a one length victory in a new lifetime mark of
1:57.3.
“He’s a good colt who has had some bad luck but we got good
luck today.” Morrill said referring to Flyhawk El Dorado making a break as the
field turned for home. “We were in the right place at the right time but we
still trotted a :28.3 last quarter to win it.”
Owned by Jesse and John De Long, Zoey De Vie paid $8.10 for
win.
All the 3 year olds in Excelsior Series performed also
admirably. Winners –with drivers—were: JL Cruze (1:59.4-Jimmy Marohn, Jr.);
Crazzy Crazzy (1:58- Jimmy Morrill, Jr.); Winbak Glory (1:59.2-Jimmy Morrill,
Jr.); General Bill Brown (1:57.3-Mark MacDonald); Flyhawk Thriller
(1:58.1-Jimmy Morrill, Jr.) and Consumer Rate (2:01.1-Mark MacDonald)
