by Brian J. Mazurek,
for Buffalo Raceway
HAMBURG, N.Y. --- Wings Of Royalty had the fastest time of
the two $59,100 divisions in the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-colt and
gelding trotters Sunday afternoon as he toured Buffalo Raceway's half-mile oval
in 1:57.2 on Sunday afternoon (July 19).
Workout Wonder, eligible for the Hambletonian at the Meadowlands
in early August, may have taken another step in that direction by coasting to a
1:58.3 victory over the fast track in the other leg.
The times, however, were well short of the track mark of
1:56.4 established in 2014 by Cash Me Out.
In the first division, driver Chris Lems had the rail with Wings Of Royalty ($2.80) but couldn't
protect pylon position as Gabe The Bear Dean fired out from the five spot to
cease the early advantage.
"I knew Ray (Schnittker)
was going to leave with Gabe The Bear Dean so I just thought I'd let him go and
I'd drop into the two spot," Lems
said. It proved to be the right choice. Wings Of Royalty retook the lead before
the quarter pole and never looked back from there.
Setting fractions of 30.0, 59.2 and 1:29.4, a 28.3 final
panel was more than enough to hold off the challenge of Military Blue (Mike Simons) and third place finisher Andy Ray
(Daniel Dube).
Owned by Raymond Campbell Jr. and trained by George Ducharme, Wings Of Royalty (RC
Royalty-Sparking Cider) has two victories in seven tries this season and
increased his bankroll to $76,877 and $204,487 lifetime.
Buen Camino was expected to be a main threat in the
Sire Stakes opener but was scratched.
Workout Wonder (Conway Hall-Dear Abs) kept his Hambletonian dreams alive after posting
relatively easy victory against a field that was cut down to four due to the
scratches of Fashion Creditor and Insomniac.
Dube went right
to the lead with Workout Wonder ($3.30) and used soft fractions of 30.2, 1:00.3
and 1:30.2. Then they clicked off a blistering last quarter of 28.1 to turn
back Royal Deceptor and salt away the victory.
"I kind of held him back around that last turn, but
once we straightened out in the stretch, he took off," Dube said of Workout Wonder's fast last
split.
About his strategy with Workout Wonder when going against
just three others, Dube said, "I
had a lot of confidence in him and just wanted to get him in front. I never
even pulled the plugs."
Royal Deceptor
(Michael McGivern) finished in second
place while Maestro Blue Chip (Trond Smedshammer) took third.
Trained by Ake Svanstedt and owned by All Laid Out Stable,
Inc., the win was the second in five outings for Workout Wonder, earning him
$83,216 in 2015 and $94,818 lifetime.
In the $15,000 Excelsior 'A' Series, Commentary ($3.70) went
the mile in 1:59.3 for Aaron Byron while Smedshammer
steered Crazshana ($3.90) to the
decision in 1:59.2.
Mark MacDonald drove The African to a popular $3.00 win in
the first division of $6,500 Excelsior 'B' series while Patronus ($7.10) took the second leg in 2:01.3 for Mike Simons.
Drew Monti had a driving triple of the steamy afternoon.
Buffalo Raceway starts its last week of the 2015 season on
Wednesday night with a 12-race card scheduled for 5 p.m. The New York Sire
Stakes will be back with the 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters ready to duke
it out.
For more information including the latest news, upcoming
promotions, race replays and results, go to www.buffaloraceway.com
