The final leg of the 2018 New York Sire Stakes took place on a rainy, cold afternoon at Monticello Raceway on Monday, September 10.

Only seven freshman fillies were entered in the New York Sire Stakes event, the short but talented field raced for a purse of $108,300.

In the middle of the first turn St Somewhere (Matt Kakaley) made a break, with Zero Tolerance inheriting the pocket. Ladybeluckytonite (James Devaux) peeled off fractions of :29.1, :58.4, 1:28.1, at the head of the lane Zero Tolerance bypassed the passing lane and went to the outside to clear pacesetter Ladybeluckytonite to win in 1:58.1. So Awesome (Jim Morrill, Jr.) was second and Ladybeluckytonite garnered the show spot after cutting the mile.

Zero Tolerance is a bay filly by Heston Blue Chip, she is trained by recent Hall of Fame Inductee Joe Holloway and is owned by Val Dor Farm and another 2019 Hall of Fame Class inductee, all around good guy Ted Gewertz. Zero Tolerance picked up her second Sire Stakes event of the year. She has also won a heat of the Reynolds Stake and a division of the Geers Stakes at Tioga Downs. With the victory her earnings are now $144,000, her next stop will the Night of Champions at Yonkers Raceway on September 22.

In the first Excelsior A dash ($15,000) James Devaux was first away from the gate and cut the fractions with Major Frost. The 1-5 favourite, Boogie Roll (Tyler Buter), pulled first over at the three-quarter marker but could not pass the stubborn Major Frost in the stretch. Major Force scored a wire to wire win in 2:00.2.

The homebred son of Art Major is co-owned by co-breeder Jeffery Runch and is trained by Mark Harder. Heavens Challenge was second, followed by Chase You.

In the second division of the A’s saw Sun Visor work hard to get lead after being parked three wide down the backstretch going to the quarter, once on top the 20-1 longshot coasted home for David Miller, giving him a driving double in Sire Stakes Action.

The Heston Blue Chip filly is trained by Scott Didomenico for owners Triple D Stables of Jamesburg, NY. She picked up her third Excelsior A win of the season. Time for the mile was 2:00.4.

The lone Excelsior B ($6,800) saw Jason Bartlett lead from start to finish with Justabitofcharm to score a tight win over Irish Art (Kyle Dibenedetto) in 2:02.1, Chase You was third. Kelly Hastings did everything but drive her filly this afternoon as she is the breeder, owner and trainer of Justabitofcharm. The Heston Blue Chip filly picked up her sixth Excelsior B event of the season and upped her seasonal tally to over $20,000 in purses.

(With files from Monticello)