Three-year-old pacing colts and geldings sparred in a set of NYSS divisions Thursday afternoon at Vernon Downs, with Groovy Joe and Splash Brother summoning up incredible speed to win their respective assignments.

The Blake MacIntosh-trained Groovy Joe was a down-the-road winner for driver Matt Kakaley in 1:48.4 in his $57,000 tilt.

The son of Roll With Joe-Chotat Milk rocketed to the top from Post 7 and successfully carved out fractions of :25.3, :53.4 and 1:21.4 before unleashing a :27-second closing quarter to win by three lengths over Blank Stare. Genius Man tagged along to finish third.

Sustained to the Pepsi North America Cup, Groovy Joe improved his 2020 record to 1-0-2 from four starts with the winning effort. The eight-time winner pushed his lifetime earnings to $268,012 for MacIntosh and the partnership of Hutt Racing Stable, Ozzie MacKay and Hoofbid Racing.

Splash Brother captured his $56,000 division for the tandem of driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ray Schnittker.

The son of So Surreal-Sugarcoated got away fourth and watched Reagan Blue Chip lead the field through first-half fractions of :26 and :55. Splash Brother tipped to the outside on the way to the mid-way point, and he quickly got into gear and sprinted past Reagan Blue Chip to take the lead. Splash Brother smoked past the three-quarter pole in 1:22.2 before using a :26.3 final frame to win by 3-1/4 lengths over Save Me A Dance in 1:49. JK Last Chance was third.

Schnittker shares ownership on the three-time winner with Nolamaura Racing, Steven Arnold and Tammy Flannery. He’s assembled a 3-1-0 record in his first four starts of the season after going 0-3-1 from seven assignments last year. The $28,000 payday bumped his lifetime earnings to $113,919.