By: Shawn Wiles
Go down the road as fast and far as you can go
seemed to be the tactic of the day as many of the afternoon participants of
Monticello Raceway’s Sire Stakes for 3-year-old trotting colts tried to follow
that pattern, some were successful, others not.
The first division of NYSS raced for a purse of
$38,500, the short 5 horse field saw Don (Andy Miller) first away from the gate
from the rail, Dan Daley and Purpose Blue Chip also left hard but were content
to let Don cut the fractions and tucked in the 3 hole. Don lead the pack thru
every fraction of 28.4, 58.2. Purpose Blue Chip pulled
at the half and never saw the rail after that and continued grinding his way
towards the leaders on the outside. Don was still on top at the ¾ in 1:27.3, by
now Purpose Blue Chip was at his throat latch. At the top of the lane,
Don and Purpose Blue Chip were trotting in unison but Purpose Blue Chip held on
over Don by a length, a fast closing On The Ropes (Svanstedt) finished 3rd.
The son of Chapter Seven notched his 3rd win of the season for
owners Daley, Crawford and Lombardo. A happy Daley said in the winner’s
circle “I put the trotting hobbles on him a month ago to help steady him out
and it really worked, he can really trot the turns fast now”
Babylons Bridge (Credit Winner) completed the
Dan Daley daily double, scoring in the second half of the early Daily Double in
2:01.3 in Excelsior B ranks.
In the second division worth $39,200, 14-1 Lindsey’s Pride and Marcus Miller cut the early
fractions without any pressure in 29, 59.1, the 1-9 favorite The Veteran was
the first to start the outer flow at the half followed by Winning Shadow.
Lindsey’s Pride still had the lead at the ¾ pole in 1:28.1 but The Veteran was
gaining even but the effort soon stalled near the paddock turn., Winning Shadow
who followed live cover fanned out in the lane and passed The Veteran to win in
1:57.4 by a diminishing length. Winning Shadow picked up his 3rd
win of the year for owners Our Horse Cents and J&T Silva. The son of
Credit Winner is trained by Jake Huff and was driven to victory by Mike
Simons. Not respected by the betting public, Winning Shadow paid $27.80
to win, the 2-5 exacta was worth $58.50 The Veteran was second and Cruising In
Style was third. The early trot setter Lindsey’s Pride faded to 5th.
In the 3rd and final division of
Sire Stakes ($39,200) starting from post 5 Clive Bigsby and Scott Zeron lead at
every stanza 28.3,58.0,1:27.2 with the heavy favorite Chasin Dreams sitting the
pocket. Perlucky and Trond Smedshammer were content stalking the leaders in 4th.
At the ¾ pole Perlucky was the first to move, the son of Lucky Chucky tried to
pull up passing the paddock draw gate, Smedshammer barked at his mount to pay
attention and he quickly responded and trotted home strong to win in a tight 3
horse photo in 1:57.2 over Clive Bigsby and Chasin Dreams. It was the
first seasonal win for Perlucky and his owner Purple Haze Stable LLC of
Fairport NY.
Excelsior A
The 2-5 favorite, Lunar Credit and Scott Zeron
beat up the Excelsior A bunch again and picked up his 5th
consecutive win for trainer George Ducharme in 1:59.1, the son of Credit Winner
is owned by Little E, Geiger, Stolz and Living The Dream Racing. Im the
Muscle was second, followed by Massamillion.
Seven Iron ($8.50) lead from start to finish to
win by 3 lengths in 1:57.4 for driver Jason Bartlett, recent Hall of Fame
nominee Linda Toscano trains the son of Chapter Seven for owner Ken
Jacobs. Troller (Marcus Miller) also scored a wire to wire win in 1:58,
trotting the fastest last quarter of the afternoon in 28.3 for trainer Paul
Kelly for his third win in a row.
Excelsior B
Pappagiorgio (Muscle Mass) and Dan Cappello
scored a wire to wire win in 1:59.1 for his 4th seasonal win.
Babylons Bridge (Credit Winner) completed the
Dan Daley daily double, scoring in the second half of the early Daily Double in
2:01.3
Blue Chip Farms, Credit Winner led all Sires
with 3 winning sons.
