Two-year-old pacing colts and geldings battled in a set of rich NYSS tilts Thursday afternoon at Saratoga Raceway, and the first division saw Joe Larry N Curly add his name to the half-miler’s record book.
Joe Larry N Curly toured the oval in 1:53.1 en route to capturing his $73,712 NYSS division, and in doing so he lowered the track standard by two-fifths of a second. The previous mark of 1:53.3 was set by Heston Blue Chip back in 2011.
Jim Morrill, Jr. had the 1-9 favourite parked and pressing at the quarter pole in :28.2, and shortly by that marker they were in charge of the tempo. Middle panels of :57.1 and 1:25.4 were supplied by the Mark Harder trainee who fired home in :27.2 for the historical mile. He won by a length over Acting Out. It was another five lengths back to third-place finisher Fine Diamond.
Joseph Jannuzzelli, Dawn Colucci and Mark Harder share ownership on the son of Roll With Joe-Lifes Image, who now boasts a 5-2-0 record in his first eight starts. The lion’s share of the loot helped bump his career earnings to $171,781.
In the $73,712 second division it was Autotune Hanover living up to the hype thanks to his 1:54.2 score for driver Tyler Buter. Mark Harder trains the son of Art Major-Anderosa Hanover, who led the field through fractions of :28.2, :57.1 and 1:26 before tacking on a :28.2 final frame for good measure. He won by 1-1/2 lengths over Red Roll, with Beast Mode a bang-up third.
The win was the fourth in eight starts this season for the youngster, who is owned by Rick Phillips, Deena Rachel Frost, Peter Venturini and Mark Harder. They shelled out $120,000 for the rookie from last year’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale, and so far they’ve watched the freshman stash away in excess of $170,000.