BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Friday, September 22,
2017—It’s a Homecoming Weekend of sorts, with Yonkers Trot winner Top Flight
Angel returning Saturday night (Sept. 23rd) as the conquering hero.
He does so in the first division of
Yonkers Raceway’s $172,000 New York Sire Stakes Michael Sorentino Trot for
3-year-old colts and geldings.
A pair of groupings, at $85,250 and
$86,750, respectively, go as the fourth and fifth races in an event named for
the one of the Raceway’s long-time popular horse owners.
As if we needed the assistance, Top Flight
Angel won the draw, with the Mr. (Andy Miller) driving for the Mrs. (Julie
Miller). The son of 2012 Yonkers Trot winner Archangel grabbed the
half-million-dollar Trot by a moist nose in 1:56.3.
He then shuffled off to Batavia, airing in
a NYSS event (1:54.3). For the season, the Legacy Standardbred (Alan
Hainsworth) homebred has won four of his 13 starts ($362,016).
Brian Sears, Top Flight Angel’s Trot date,
tries to beat him this time around with Stick with Me Kid.
The Dewycheatumnhowe gelding, trained by
George Ducharme, is also 4-for-13 this season. He starts at the opposite end of
the seven-horse gate.
Seven and Seven (George Brennan, post 4)
is Ontario-based trainer Tom Durand’s first local visit in since October of
2013. The homebred (Mrs. Durand) son of Chapter Seven has been trying open
stakes company for much of the summer, though his lone win was a Tioga sire
stakes event.
Saturday’s second Sorentino division
includes Guardian Angel AS (Jason Bartlett, post 3).
The Archangel colt has won half of his 14
’17 tries ($153,143), though that may be overshadowed by breaks in the finals
of both the Hambletonian and Yonkers Trot. Anette Lorenzton trains for
co-owners ACL Stuteri AB and Kjell Johansson.
Swell Chap (Sears, post 4) has come to
hand late in the summer, entering with consecutive NYSS wins (Saratoga and
Batavia). The Son of Chapter Seven colt, trained by Todd Rooney, has hit the
board in 11-of-13 starts this season ($157,451).
Saturday is the last of 16 sire stakes
local legs, after which the judges tabulate the scores to see who’s good enough
for the $1.8 million Oct. 14th New York ‘Day’ of Champions. The
eight, $225,000 NYSS finals take place during Yonkers’ $3.3 million
International Trot matinee program.
