Chapter Geo J and Ai, two colts by Chapter Seven, won the $118,310 New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) divisions for three-year-old trotting males on Thursday, July 23 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Driven by Jason Bartlett in the first split, Chapter Geo J led to the quarter in :28.1 and the half in :57.2, then got separation on the rest of the pack as he trotted towards three-quarters in 1:25.4. From there, Chapter Geo J used a :28.4 final quarter to slam the door on his rivals for a 1:54.3 victory, defeating a first-over Seven Grand (Tyler Buter) by 6-1/2 lengths. Whos Eyes Blues (Yannick Gingras) tired from the pocket but held third.
Noel Daley trains Chapter Geo J for owner Ken Jacobs. Bred by Lester Beechy, Chapter Geo J, out of Miss Vet Hanover, now has three wins, five seconds and a third from 12 starts and has earned $244,279. He paid $3.22 to win as the favourite.
In the other section, Ai overcame the outside post six with little issue and was in front of his five foes well prior to the :28.4 quarter for driver Yannick Gingras. Ai then reached the half in :57.4 before Read The Room (Ake Svanstedt) pulled out of the pocket on the third turn and gave cover to favoured Silverstein (Matt Kakaley). Read The Room edged ahead on the rim before the 1:25.2 three-quarters but never could clear Ai, and Ai battled back on the inside in the stretch to defeat Read The Room by a half-length in 1:54.3. Silverstein wound up third.
Last year's NYSS champion for this group, Ai was sent out by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Hatfield Stables, Knox Services Inc. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The Steve Jones-bred colt out of Image Of Bee has a summary of 6-3-4 from 21 career appearances and has banked $730,507. He returned $11.70 to win as the 9-2 third choice.
There were also two $28,169 New York Excelsior Series races on the card for sophomore male trotters. Dws Cha Ching ($10.44), a Devious Man-Yankeedoodlecandy colt, took the first split in 1:57 for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander and owner Stranger Stable. Flex Up ($3.70) was a 1:58.3 winner in the second group. Andy Miller drove the Chapter Seven-Fade Into You colt for trainer Julie Miller and owners Miller Iannacone, Jean Goehlen, AC Crawford Racing Stable and Mortgage Boys Stable.
Beginning next week, Yonkers is back racing on a Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-through-Saturday live racing schedule through the second week in September. Post time is at 6:45 p.m. (EDT), except on Saturday when it is 3:30 p.m.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway; photo of Chapter Geo J winning on July 23)