Cooperstown Boy and Hunting Glory won the pair of New York Sire Stakes divisions for three-year-old male pacers on Thursday, Aug. 13 at MGM Yonkers Raceway in similar fashion, both rallying by the favourite in the stretch from the pocket.
All eyes were on MGM Grand Messenger Stakes champion Fragment (Yannick Gingras) in the $112,500 split, and he moved up two-wide to take the lead away from Unmatched Wisdom (Leon Bailey) past the :27.3 quarter. Fragment then backed down the tempo to :56.3 to the half before he accelerated to the 1:24.3 three-quarters as Unmatched Wisdom vacated the pocket but immediately began to back away, allowing Cooperstown Boy, who had been sitting third, to advance into the two-hole.
Cooperstown Boy stalked Fragment all the way around the far turn, and then Doug McNair fired him to the outside for the drive to the finish. Fragment had the jump and dug in, but Cooperstown Boy was able to nab the 1-9 favourite late, defeating him by a head in 1:52.2. Unmatched Wisdom wound up third.
Cooperstown Boy, a Huntsville-Twinsburg gelding, was sent out by Jared Bako for owner NY Seb Inc. Unraced as a two-year-old, Cooperstown Boy, bred by Jeff McFadden and Jeff Roberts, has a summary of 3-2-0 from seven outings and has put away $137,107. He returned $38.18 to win as the 18-1 second choice.
In the $114,583 first grouping, Knoxville was in front for Tyler Buter through fractions of :27, :55.2 and 1:23.1 with Hunting Glory in the two-hole. Ridge Warren angled Hunting Glory off the pylons on the last turn, and after a battle through the lane, Hunting Glory got up late to score by half a length in 1:52. Knoxville had to settle for second, followed by Fearless Partners (Jordan Stratton).
A Huntsville-Southwind Prima gelding, Hunting Glory is trained by Robert Cleary for owner Royal Wire Products Inc. Hunting Glory, who was bred by Southwind Farms LLC, has three wins, four seconds and two thirds from 12 career starts and has earned $284,974. He paid $12.42 to win as the 5-1 fourth choice.
The $27,778 New York Excelsior Series events on the program were won by the American Ideal-V String gelding Magic Journey ($21.72) in 1:51.3 for driver Tyler Buter and trainer Rob Harmon, and the Huntsville-Wiggle Delight gelding Johnny Wiggles ($5.30) in 1:54.2 for co-owner/driver Doug McNair and trainer Jared Bako.
Thursday night's Pick 5 sequence was not hit, leading to a $7,081.36 carryover and a $35,000 guaranteed pool in the wager on Friday. The guarantee in the Pick 5 is being offered as part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program, and free past performances, courtesy of TrackMaster, will be available at handicapping.ustrotting.com. The Pick 5, which begins in the fifth race, has a $1 minimum and a takeout rate of 20 per cent.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)