Twenty-three freshmen colt and gelding trotters have been entered to contest Wednesday night's (June 26) New York Sire Stakes at Buffalo Raceway. While the boys may be short on experience, their preps for the three divisions, worth approximately $37,000, have been certainly impressive.
The group as a whole has 42 starts in betting and qualifying races leading up to Wednesday night's action. The boys have earned 16 victories, 10 second-place finishes and nine thirds in those attempts (only nine have not hit the board).
Credit Winner and Conway Hall have each sired six entrants; RC Royalty has four; Crazed three; Muscle Mass two, while Chapter Seven and Muscles Yankee have one apiece.
The first leg will go off as the second race with Pushthebuttonmax (Muscle Mass-Julieannie) tabbed the 3-1 morning line favorite from the five post with John Stark Jr. in the bike.
On June 21, Pushthebuttonmax had a good third-place finish in a conditioned event at Saratoga Raceway, losing by just one and a quarter lengths to Broken Tale in 2:00. He also had a win in a qualifier at Saratoga on June 16.
The main threat could come from Certify (Credit Winner-Good Intentions) who drew the four post for driver Claude Huckabone Jr. In a conditioned race at Saratoga on June 21, he jumped off stride and spotted the field more than 16 lengths before regrouping and finishing third, just two and a quarter lengths back.
The remainder of the field will include The Butler Did It (to be driven by Anthony McDonald), Sure Hit (Kyle Husted), Thunder (Jason Bartlett), Rx For Success (Scott Zeron) and Charlieman (Dan Daley).
Horns For Three (Credit Winner-Swoosh Hanover) leads the field in the second bracket, as he's the 5-2 early choice for driver Kevin Cummings out of the six hole.
Coming in from Hoosier Park, Horns For Three has been lights out in his two qualifiers, winning both. His first attempt came on June 9 where he won by one and three-quarter lengths in 2:00.4, and followed that up with an 11 and a quarter-length victory in 1:58.3.
Jake Gs Champion arrives from Vernon Downs with a pair of non-betting scores. Last time out, on June 15, Jake Gs Champion (RC Royalty-Super Starlet) rolled to a two and a quarter-length win in 1:59. He'll get the four post with Zeron in the bike.
The rest of the entrants include Leap Year Lucky (Dan Daley), Okay (Huckabone Jr.), Rap Sheet (Husted), Crazyforlovinyou (Morrill Jr.), Barn Beast (Mike Caprio) and The Chutzpah Kid (Chuck Connor Jr.).
Chip Chip Conway (Conway Hall-Get Chipped) drew the rail in the last division and was installed as the 3-1 top pick with Morrill Jr. to drive. He's been solid thus far, winning his qualifier at Pocono Down by two lengths in 2:00.0 then romping away to a five and a quarter-length score in a maiden race at Tioga Downs on June 16 in 1:59.
Whimzical Chapter (Chapter Seven-Whimzical Britt) may be the main contender from the five post with Daley in the sulky. In his lone qualifier back on June 8 at Vernon Downs, Whimzical Chapter went gate-to-wire in 2:00.1 to register a five and a quarter-length triumph.
Others in the leg include Sanchez Rocks (Drew Monti), Our White Knight (Bartlett), Xcuseme (John Stark Jr.,) Jnr Express (John MacDonald), Travel Winner (Trevor Henry) and Simple Kaos (Zeron).
Racing will begin at 5 p.m. with events in the Excelsior ‘A’ and ‘B’ series also on the 11-race program. There's an $845 carryover in the Pick-5 which begins in the second race.
(Buffalo Raceway)