Jim Morrill Jr. put on a driving show at Tioga Downs on Saturday night posting eight wins in eight starts including five of the Tompkins-Geers divisions
.
According to the Trotting & Pacing Guide, eight wins in a row is a current record, and although his eight were not in exact order he posted a 100% win percentage for the night. As Jason Settlemoir interviewed Morrill following his eighth win, the fans roared and Morrill showed his appreciation by taking off his helmet and thanking the fans for their support.
Im Gorgeous and Jim Morrill Jr. made the quarter pole move and cruised to victory in the first division of the Tompkins-Geers for two-year-old colt pacers. Im Gorgeous tripped off the three-quarter pole in 1:27.1, then sprinted home away from the field with a final panel of :28.3.
The two-year-old son of Bettors Delight-Joy is trained by George Teauge Jr., who also co-owns the colt with Elmer Fannin.
When Morrill was asked if the colt had more pace left in the tank he replied “Oh yeah...we were on cruise control home."
Morrill continued the winning ways in the second division with Hes Gorgeous for Linda Toscano and Ken Jacobs. The two-year-old son of Art Major-So Ravishing went to the front and lined the field up through fractions of :28, :58 and 1:27 before sprinting home in :28.2.
It was the second win in three lifetime starts for Hes Gorgeous, who was purchased by Ken Jacobs for $97,000 as a yearling.
“He is what his name says, he is a beautiful horse, and it looks like he could be living up to it,” said Linda Toscano in the winner’s circle following the victory.
Morrill also scored Tompkins-Geers victories with Jo Pas Fod (Art Major-Athena Blue Chip) for trainer Jim Campbell, Naughty Indeed (Badlands Hanover-Lofty Aspirations) trainer George Teague Jr., and Dr Dreamy (Art Major-Candy Stripes) also for trainer George Teague Jr. Matt Kakaley took home the lone division Morrill did not have a drive in with Truly A Treasure (Art Major-Private Treasure) for trainer Linda Toscano.
Tioga Downs continues live racing action featuring more of the Tompkins-Geers stakes on Sunday afternoon with a post time of 1:30 p.m. Also, for the Tompkins-Geers stakes, Tioga will feature a special Monday night card with a post time of 6:50 p.m.
(Tioga Downs)