Yonkers, NY — Yonkers Raceway Tuesday evening (July 16) hosted the humid $156,600 New York Sire Stakes Hugh Grant Trot for 2-year-old fillies.

Three, $52,200 races comprised the event.

Love A Good Story sat just off the pace to take a division of the NYSS at Yonkers Tuesday. Mike Lizzi Photo

There wasn’t much out of the ordinary in the first division. Death-and-taxes Love a Good Story (Chapter Seven-Celebrity Lovin) (Andy Miller, $2.20) sat off some ambitious fractions (:27.4, :57.3, 1:27.4), before moving to the lead and drawing off. From post position three, she whipped I’lldotitmyself (Scott Zeron) by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:57.2.

C Me Hyde (Phil Fluet) and Seeking Royalty (Jordan Stratton), 1-2 through those quick early intervals, wound up third and fourth, respectively. 

For Love a Good Story, a daughter of Chapter Seven co-owned by Pinske Stables & Kentuckiana Racing Stable and trained by Julie Miller, it was her third (NYSS) win in as many seasonal/career starts. The exacta paid $32.80, the triple returned $80,50 the superfecta paid $573.

”She’s just so good,” driver Miller said. “She made it look easy.”

Tuesday night’s second sire stakes rendition saw a determined Munster (Chapter Seven-Richesse Oblige S) (Stratton, $5.80) hold off a second pocket-pull of Sorprese (Dan Daley). From post five, the former went the distance (:28.4, :58.1, 1:27.3, maiden-breaking 1:57.4), defeating that rival by a length-and-three-quarters.

Seventimesalady (Ake Svanstedt) was third as the 6-5 favorite, with Olympic Glory (Andy Miller) rounding out the gimmick numbers.

“It was the first time I’d driven her, but she showed she could leave, so I left,” Stratton said. “Then she dug in.”

For second choice Munster, a Chapter Seven miss trained by Per Engblom for co-owners Black Horse Racing and Wiesman Farms, it was that first win in a pair of season/life tries. The exacta paid $57, the triple returned $199.50 and the superfecta paid $2,422.

It took until the final state-bred soiree for the gauntlet to be thrown down.

Hypnotic AM took down the track record at Yonkers on Tuesday night with an impressive NYSS victory. Mike Lizzi Photo

Odds-on Hypnotic AM (Chapter Seven-Daydream AM S) (Brian Sears, $2.70) vaulted up and over her six inside rivals—the outside foe was scratched—then had her way in a gapped-out group (:28, :57.4, 1:26.3, 1:56.1).

The final distance between Hypnotic AM and bridesmaid Really Blue Chip (Anthony MacDonald) was 5-3/4 lengths, while the time was a new track record for her class (Plunge Blue Chip-1:56.2 in ’17).

Destiny Blue Chip (Svanstedt, part of entry) was third.

For Hypnotic AM, a homebred Chapter Seven ma’am trained by Marcus Melander for owner Courant Inc., she’s started out 2-for-2 after another blowout NYSS win (in identical times). The exacta paid $24.20, the triple returned $50 and no superfecta wagering due to the presence of a coupled entry.

“Those Melanders do a helluva job,” Sears said.

New York Sire Stakes returns downstate Saturday night (July 27^th), with the  Milt Taylor Trot for 3-year-old colts/geldings.

Total purses for the 2019 New York-bred program are estimated at $14 million. For more information, please visit www.nysirestakes.com.