Driver Jason Bartlett continued his New York Sire Stakes success and completed a sweep of the two $104,930 divisions on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Saratoga Casino Hotel with two-year-old pacing colts Maries Jet and Rose Run Cowboy.
Maries Jet, a colt by Roll With Joe out of R Marie Hanover, drew the rail and cut the mile in the first division of five. Bartlett took the Aaron Lambert trainee to the half in :28.1 and :58.2 then braced for the challenge of the odds-on favourite, Primacy Station (Matt Kakaley), who tipped out from third at three-quarters in 1:27. Those two engaged in a heavy duty battle in the stretch before Maries Jet held on by a nose in the 1:54.4 mile. Primacy Station came up just short of recording what would have been his fourth win in five career starts. Instead, it was the third score in the five-race freshman campaign for Maries Jet, who is just shy of $140,000 in earnings for owners Vincent Ferriero Jr. of Deland, Florida and Carlye Yanstick of Farmingdale, New Jersey. Pocket-sitter Beatle Blue Chip (Jacob Cutting) edged out Free Agent (Brett Beckwith) for third, just a half-length behind the winner.
Bartlett completed his sweep of the Sire Stakes races when the Ron Burke-trained Rose Run Cowboy went coast-to-coast as the betting favourite. Coming into the day winless in three tries, Rose Run Cowboy assumed the early lead and never looked back, setting fractions of :28, :57.3 and 1:26.1 en route to a 1:54 score. Man On A Hunt (Jacob Cutting) put in a formidable challenge to the favoured leader, who turned away that bid around the final turn before drawing off to win by a length and a quarter to break his maiden. Bastonata Bluechip (Matt Kakaley) finished third. The winning Huntsville-Blameitonthenight colt is owned by Thomas and Scott Dillon of Anson, Maine.
Burke also had a winner in one of the three $28,169 Excelsior Series divisions with Bacchus Blue Chip scoring in 1:55.4 in rein to Brett Beckwith. Its News To Me matched that winning time in another division for driver Leon Bailey and trainer Chuck Connor Jr., while Takes Courage was the fastest of the trio with a 1:54.3 effort for the driving and training team of Matt Kakaley and Travis Alexander.
Bailey and Connor followed up on their Excelsior score with a victory in the $25,352 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace courtesy of four-year-old Dressed To Kill, who led most of the 1:54.1 mile and now boasts wins in half of her 16 seasonal starts.
Live harness racing resumes on Saturday at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m. on an evening that features a t-shirt giveaway.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel; photo of Rose Run Cowboy winning on Aug. 4).