Gural Hanover smashed the all-age trotting record at Buffalo Raceway Sunday afternoon by covering the mile in 1:56.1 over the lightning fast track to steal the spotlight in the second $61,300 division of the New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters.
The old mark of 1:56.3 was shared by Scorpion Moon (2007), Delano (2012), Crazy About Pat (2013) and Lutetium (2014).
After shattering the track record with Gural Hanover, winning driver Jim Morrill Jr. said, "That was just a training mile. The horse is very, very good."
Morrill Jr. was very good as well as he finished the program with five victories in the sulky.
Gural Hanover ($2.10) started from the six post and cleared the top just before the quarter pole. He posted fractions of :28.4, :57.3 and 1:27.3 and had a :28.3 last panel to destroy the record. Zoey De Vie (Phil Fluet) pressed Gural Hanover slightly down the stretch and finished strong a length behind in second while Flyhawk El Durado (Mark MacDonald) placed third.
The lightly raced Gural Hanover (Crazed-Givemearing), now a winner four times in six career starts, has amassed $75,828 this season and $77,078 lifetime. He is trained by Ron Burke and owned by the Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Little E and Panhellenic Racing Corporation.
Cash Me Out took the opening $61,300 leg and nearly set a new track standard with a 1:56.4 win. The time was just a fifth of a second off the track record before Gural Hanover came along.
It was basically a two-horse race past the three-quarter marker as the pacesetting Expressive Action (Mike Simons) and Cash Me Out pulled away from the field and were ready to battle for the stretch duel. Expressive Action hung tough until midway down the lane as Cash Me Out ($3.50) managed to wear down the leader and registered the length win. Mister Anson (Morrill Jr.) finished in third.
"He's really good when he has a target to chase," winning driver Mike McGivern said of Cash Me Out. "When we pulled out, he had something to chase after."
Owned by Traylor Racing LLC and trained by Cheryl McGivern, Cash Me Out (Cash Hall-China Victory) has now won three straight races and two in a row in Sire Stakes competition. The victory pushed his 2014 winnings to $88,425 and lifetime bankroll to $244,062.
In the Excelsior Series A races, all worth $12,500, Commissioner Daley (Dan Daley) cruised to a 1:59.1 victory and returned $5.80 for the win. The second leg had Flyhawk Thrill (Morrill Jr.) notching a popular $2.30 decision after covering the mile in 1:58.
The Excelsior Series B races, with a purse of $6,600 each, had Credit Craze (Morrill Jr.) post a surprising $14.20 win in 2:04 while Engagedatlexington (Jim Marohn Jr.) cruised to a 2:00.3 victory and paid $3.20.
Racing will resume on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. with a 13-race card on tap. The New York Sire Stakes will be back with the two-year-old pacing colts and geldings headlining the program.
(With files from Buffalo Raceway)