He’s diminutive in size but dominant on the track. Dayson ($2.20) came from off the pace and pulled away to a convincing victory in his division of the $119,300 New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings at Batavia Downs on Wednesday night (Aug. 31).
Off the wings, Allerage Echo (Chris Lems) and The Royal Harry (Oskar Florhed) both left and battled old-school to the quarter in :28 flat before The Royal Harry finally took the lead. Meanwhile Dayson (Jim Morrill Jr.) relaxed in third about eight lengths behind, waiting for the dust to settle. The field remained unchanged to the half but became more closely grouped, nose to tail.
At the five-eighths pole, Morrill tipped Dayson and asked for more, and more is what he got. He eased past Allerage Echo and snuck up on The Royal Harry as they circled the final turn. When they hit the top of the stretch, Dayson found another gear and he pulled away on his own. Morrill had the whip tucked and the lines in his lap as they crossed the wire a four-length winner in 1:57.3.
“He was very good; nice and strong. He got around the track perfect tonight and didn’t do anything wrong,” said winning driver Jim Morrill Jr. “I tipped him up the backside and was hand-wrapped to the wire.”
It was the eighth win in 12 starts this year for Dayson (Conway Hall-Nerveys Taurus) who now boasts $230,583 in 2016 earnings for owners Burke Racing Stables LLC, Our Horse Cents Stable, J&T Silva Stable LLC and Rossie Smith.
In the other NYSS division, A Jersey Contract ($14.00) pulled the upset after a crafty drive by the Downs' leading driver Kevin Cummings that gave him the home-field advantage.
With the scratch of morning line favourite Smalltownthrowdown due to his participation in the $500,000 Yonkers Trot on Saturday, Sir Royson (Jim Marohn Jr.) became the favourite and went off at 1-1. However, he also made a break before the gate opened and that immediately made the race interesting. Southern Palms (Jim Morrill Jr.) took full advantage off the gaffe and opened up a three-length lead over pocket-sitting A Jersey Contract going to the quarter.
The field stood pat past the half when Thats A Bad Boy (Tyler Freese) pulled first over with Drazzmatazz (Mark MacDonald) on his helmet. The top four were then grouped two-by-two at three-quarters in 1:28.4. Around the last turn, Drazzmatazz tipped three-wide around Thats A Bad Boy trying to gain on the leader, but A Jersey Contract who had the perfect journey in second, shot up the pylons and collared Southern Palms by a neck in 1:57.4. The time was a new lifetime mark for the winner.
“The race shaped up real well for us. We got a two-hole trip right to the wire and he had a lot of trot sitting in there,” said his driver Kevin Cummings. “I knew when I got him in the passing lane he’d give me more.”
It was the third win this season for A Jersey Contract (Lucky Chucky-Giza Dream) and it pushed his yearly earnings to $88,574 for owners Tom Vassiliou and Nicholas Tallarico. A Jersey Contract is trained by Maureen Salino.
There were also two divisions of the Excelsior A series on the card.
The first division was won by Credevi (Credit Winner-Fleur De Vie) in 1:58, which was a new lifetime mark. Credevi ($2.30) was driven by Jim Morrill Jr. for owner Wanda Polisseni’s Purple Haze Stable and trainer Trond Smedshammer.
The second leg went to Royal Bachelor (RC Royalty-Becca J) in 1:57.4. Royal Bachelor is trained and driven by Dan Daley and is owned by Ann-Mari Daley, James Crawford IV and Michael White. The winner returned $9.00.
Jim Morrill Jr. is the leading driver on the New York Sire Stake circuit and also the third leading UDR driver in North America and he showed why on Wednesday as he won five races; three in stake races and two overnighters. His victories included Credevie ($2.30), Dayson ($2.20), Thanks For Playin ($2.60), Terrorcam ($5.10) and Purple N Gold ($5.10).
Harness racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Sept. 2) with post time set for 6:15 p.m.
(with files from Batavia)