A pair of divisions of New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings headlined the Sunday card at Saratoga Raceway on Sunday (May 24), with Fragment scoring in his sophomore debut with Colin Kelly, and Unmatched Wisdom winning on the engine with Leon Bailey.

With broken headpoles not seeming to phase Fragment (pictured above), who left from post four in his $116,667 split, Kelly settled the 1-5 favourite into fourth early while Hunting Glory (Tyler Buter) took the field to the quarter in :27.2. The field raced single-file through the slop to the half in :55.2 before Fragment flushed the cover of Fearless Partners (Jacob Cutting) to move second-over at three-quarters in 1:23.

The field began to swarm Hunting Glory on the final turn, with Fragment tipping three-wide to rev-up his charge. Once fed race track, Fragment effortlessly moved to the lead in a matter of strides with a :28.4 burst to win by 3-1/4 lengths. Fearless Partners was second, with Hunthehuntr De Vie (Mark Herschberger) finishing third.

Trained by Per Engblom for his Engblom Farm of Wrightstown, NJ, Douglas Sipple of Georgetown, DE, and Peaceful Acre Farm of Litiitz, PA, Fragment has won 10 of 17 lifetime. The Huntsville-The Show Returns colt has banked $871,781 for his career, and provided driver Colin Kelly with his biggest purse victory since moving to the states from Canada.

In the $114,583 first division, Unmatched Wisdom utilized front-stepping tactics en route to his victory with driver Leon Bailey.

Way from post four as the even-money favourite, Unmatched Wisdom was used hard to work his way around Knoxville (Tyler Buter), splashing to a hot opening quarter of :26.1. Once clear, Unmatched Wisdom had things his way to the half in :55.1, before leading to three-quarters in 1:23.3. while Knoxville was under fire from Hunt Off The Press (Shawn Gray) for second.  

Brining the field into the stretch, Unmatched Wisdom faced one final bid from Knoxville to his inside and Mighty Matt (Braxten Boyd) to his outside. The two-pronged attack would not reach though as Unmatched Wisdom got to the line a half-length clear in 1:52.1 over Mighty Matt and Knoxville.

Undefeated on the year in six starts, Unmatched Wisdom is trained by Chuck Connor Jr. for owners Scott Mc Gee of West Gardiner, ME, Jim Fielding of Gravenhurst, Ont., Kevin McKinlay of Holland Landing, Ont., and John Stronka of Davie, FL. The American Ideal-Above Average gelding has banked $91,619 this season and $124,056 lifetime following his seventh career victory.

There were also three $27,778 New York Excelsior divisions for pacing colts, won by River Ranch Dawson (Braxten Boyd, $4.10) in 1:57 for trainer Jenny Melander, Jericho Johnny (Larry Stalbaum, $3.06) driven by his trainer in 1:55.2, and Zod (Ridge Warren, $28.12) in 1:56.3 for trainer Travis Alexander.

In the $25,000 Mare Open Pace, Soft Shot (Kyle Swift, $7.84) swept the field of five in the back half to score by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:55.4. over Remy Brown N (Aaron Byron) and Dressed To Kill (Leon Bailey).

Jaymes Mcassey trains the winning five-year-old daughter of Heston Blue Chip-Aims Whisper. Owned by Paul O'Neil of Saratoga Springs, NY, Soft Shot has won 23 of 53 lifetime while earning $579,980.

(Standardbred Canada)