Three-year-old trotting colt Sir Royson overtook race leader Cloud Nine Hanover late in the stretch to win the $7,000 Dexter Cup Prep in his seasonal debut on Saturday, April 23 at Freehold Raceway.
Driven by Jim Marohn Jr., the Linda Toscano-trained Sir Royson ($9.20) secured a pocket trip behind the 6-5 favourite while Hillman broke stride when challenging during the first quarter. From there, a game of follow the leader ensued as Sir Royson waited patiently until the stretch drive before launching his attack. He trotted home in :29.1 to pass Cloud Nine Hanover just before the wire for the three-quarter length victory in 2:01. Speed It regrouped after a mid-race miscue and rallied to finish third.
R-And-I Farms' lightly raced Crazed colt, who ended his freshman campaign with back-to-back victories in the New York Excelsior Series, is now three-for-five in his career with total earnings of $18,872.
The $130,000 (estimated) Dexter Cup will be contested on Saturday, May 7 at Freehold, with eliminations scheduled for next weekend.
Last year, millionaire trotter Habitat kicked off his multiple stakes-winning sophomore campaign with a victory in the 2015 Dexter Cup.