Heavy favourites Sir Pinocchio and Fly By were up to the task in the pair of New York Sire Stakes divisions for sophomore trotting colts and geldings on Thursday, July 18 at MGM Yonkers Raceway, scoring in 1:55 and 1:56.3, respectively.

Sir Pinocchio, who won the final of the MGM Yonkers Trot when last seen at the oval, landed in third in the opening $113,014 split, but driver Jason Bartlett moved to the outside early and was able to get the top spot away from Nottingham (Marcus Miller) after the 28 second opening quarter. From there, Sir Pinocchio remained in control through middle-half panels of :57.1 and 1:26 before he used a 29 second final kicker to seal the deal. Keep Asking (Tyler Buter) found room between horses in the lane and was a gaining second, three-quarters of a length behind Sir Pinocchio, and Nottingham, who swung out of the pocket late on the final bend, wound up third.

Ed Hart trains Sir Pinocchio, a gelding by Mets Hall, for owner/breeder Carolyn Atherton. Sir Pinocchio has seven wins, four seconds and two thirds from 16 appearances, has pocketed $506,888 and paid $2.50 to win. He was atop a $5.40 exacta and a $20.80 trifecta.

In the other $115,068 flight, 22-1 shot Voss Blue Chip (Yannick Gingras) blasted to the lead from post four and was unwilling to cede the front to 5-2 second choice Super Duper Cooper (Jordan Stratton) when that one came off the pylons prior to the :27.4 quarter, forcing him to back off into the pocket. With the front-end secured, Gingras then slammed on the brakes in the second quarter to get to the half in just :59.2 as Fly By (Scott Zeron) began to advance first-over from fourth.

Voss Blue Chip was plenty game off that well-rated tempo and managed to repel Fly By to the 1:28 three-quarters, around the last turn and into the stretch, but Fly By just kept persisting to the outside and managed to finally wear down Voss Blue Chip in the closing strides, defeating him by half a length. Victor Laszlo (Mark MacDonald) finished well off Fly By's cover and was up for the third spot.

Fly By, a Chapter Seven colt, was bred by Al Libfeld, Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband and Libfeld and Katz share ownership of him with Pryde Stables Inc. The Tony Alagna trainee has a summary of 3-5-1 from 18 trips behind the gate, has earned $237,228 and returned $2.50 to win. He keyed a $20.00 exacta and a $72.00 trifecta.

There were also three $27,397 New York Excelsior "A" sections for the three-year-old male trotters on the program, and they were won by:

-- Woweress (by Crazy Wow, bred by owner Purple Haze Stables LLC., paid $3.20 to win) in 1:55.4 for driver Tyler Buter and trainer George Ducharme;

-- Ramborain (by Crazy Wow, bred by co-owner Ann-Mari Daley with James Crawford IV, paid $12.60 to win) in 1:58.3 for trainer/driver Dan Daley and co-owners Jlrl LLC., Todd Van Alstyne and Margaret Waterbury;

-- Sky Box (by E L Titan, bred by Steve Jones, paid $8.20 to win) in 1:56.4 for driver Brent Holland, co-owner/trainer Paul Kelley and co-owners Go For Glory Stable, Ellen Palillo and Matt Lamont LLC.

New York Sire Stakes action will occur at MGM Yonkers Raceway again next Thursday, July 25 as two-year-old colt and gelding pacers will compete in their fourth preliminary round.

Adamcyzk Sweeps NAADA Trots

Andrew Adamczyk gathered easy victories in both of the $17,945 divisions of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) Trot at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday night (July 18). 

In the first division, Adamczyk romped with 1-9 favourite Stick With Me Kid to a 1:57 mile. Adamczyk grabbed the point out of post seven with Stick With Me Kid and carved a clip of :29.1, :59.1 and 1:27.4 while gradually drawing away from his competition. He continued to widen in his lead spinning for home and crossed the beam nine lengths better than Psalmsfortysixfive (driven by Scott Keppler), who closed ground from second over to take second. Pilsner Frosty (Paul Minore) gave chase from a pocket ride in third and Kasha’s Boy (Alan Schwartz) faded from a first over push and took fourth.

Nicholas Devita trains Stick With Me Kid, a 10-year-old gelding by Deweycheatumnhowe, for owner J M F Racing LLC. He paid $2.10 to win. 

Adamczyk again overcame post seven later in the second division when securing a pocket ride for his charge Explosive Ridge and pouncing to a 2:00.2 win. Explosive Ridge tracked even-money favorite Raceace (Alan Schwartz), who paved a tepid tempo of :29.4, 1:01 and 1:30.2. Raceace moved evenly for home while Adamczyk sprung Explosive Ridge into action and promptly powered past to a 2-3/4-length victory at the end. Fashion Forever (Dawn Anderson) saved ground to take third and Winneress (Anthony Verruso) levelled off from a first-over bid for fourth. 

Explosive Ridge, a 10-year-old gelding by Explosive Matter, competes for owner-trainer Andrew Adamczyk. Off the second choice in the betting, he paid $9.50 to win.

NAADA action continues at Yonkers Raceway next Thursday (July 25) for the eighth preliminary of the club’s summer series. First-race post time at Yonkers is 7 p.m. (EDT). 

(With files from Yonkers Raceway and NAADA)