Vernon Downs is gearing up for a big weekend as it plays host to three divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts on Friday.
The first division ($40,600) features two-year-old NYSS champion Six Pack (Muscle Mass). He is owned by Little E LLC, Stall Kalmar and trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt. This will be the colt’s first race as a sophomore after winning four times as a freshman including the NYSS final at Yonkers Raceway. He is the morning line favourite at 5-2.
The main competition in the first division will come from The Veteran (Muscle Mass). The three-year-old is owned by W. Donovan, S. Michaels, J. Winske and trainer George Ducharme. Driven by Chris Lems, the colt will also be racing for the first time as a three-year-old. The morning line second choice (7-2), won twice in 2017 and finished third in the NYSS final behind Six Pack.
The second division ($39,900) morning line favourite at 2-1, is Clive Bigsby (Muscle Mass), was the runner-up at the two-year-old NYSS final. Owned by Winters Racing Stable and trainer George Ducharme, he will be making his three-year-old debut after winning five times in 2017. Chris Lems will drive the sophomore trotting colt.
Helpisontheway (Chapter Seven), was made the second morning line choice (3-1). The sophomore colt is owned by The Bay's Stable LLC with the Camelot Stables Inc while trained by Linda Toscano and piloted by Tim Tetrick. He will make his first three-year-old start of the season after going one for eight as a freshman. His best race was a third place finish at the Kindergarten Final in 2017 at the Meadowlands.
The third division ($40,600) morning line favourite at 5-2 is Seven Iron (Chapter Seven). The colt is the 2017 Kindergarten Final runner-up. Owned by Ken Jacobs and trained by Linda Toscano, the three-year-old is driven by Tim Tetrick. He won two races a season ago.
Ronnie Goldstein (Muscle Mass) is the second morning line choice at 7-2. Two for two so far as a three-year-old, the colt is owned by Steven Goldstein, while trained and driven by Kim Crawford. He won two races as a freshman trotter.
Also on the nine-race card are three divisions of The New York Excelsior "A' Series and three divisions of The New York Excelsior "B" Series. Post time at Vernon Downs is 6:10 p.m.
For more information got www.vernondowns.com.
(Vernon Downs)