by Frank Drucker, Publicity Director, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway

Yonkers, NY — Yonkers Raceway’s driving colony has a different look this weekend, with Messrs. Bartlett, Buter, Dube, Lachance and Stratton in Paris defending the honor of the Red, White, Blue and Westchester.

Their absence offers chances for other escorts, notably in Friday night’s (June 24) $167,874 New York Sire Stakes Hugh Grant Pace for 3-year-old colts and geldings. A pair of equally-parsed $83,937 divisions go consecutively as races six and seven.

Missile J (Jim Morrill Jr., post six), winner of last month’s $300,000 Art Rooney Pace here, looms a solid choice in the first division. The American Ideal gelding, trained by Linda Toscano for co-owning stables KJ and Purple Haze, has six wins and nine board finishes in 10 seasonal starts ($227,675).

Manny (Chris Lems, post five) was getting to Missile J in their sire stakes showdown at Buffalo, missing by a neck. The American Ideal colt owns a NYSS win at Monticello.

Fine Diamond (George Brennan, post one) owns a Buffalo sire stakes win. Nox Vegas Bluechip (Andrew McCarthy, post two), Ideal Kiss (Pat Berry, post three), Roll Away Joe (Pat Berry, post four), Endeavor (Steve Smith, post seven) and Carlos Danger (Brian Sears, post eight) round out the opening division.

Friday’s second NYSS event includes pole-sitting Artmagic (Brennan), who led to the lane in the Rooney and tries for his first win of the season.

Craftship (Scott Zeron, post three) has a statebred win (Monticello) and second (Buffalo) included in his recent resume, while Autotune Hanover (Morrill, post four) rebounded from a very poor effort in the lone elim for the Rooney with a pair of sire stakes thirds.

JK Heaven Sent (Eric Carlson, post two), Concur (Brent Holland, post five), Beaches De Vie (Smith, post six), Bottom Deals (Sears, post seven) and Ideal Son (Vincent Ginsburg, post eight) complete the second event.

Speaking of the AWOL French Connection, post positions have been drawn for Friday’s first of two races in the Parisian portion of the Drivers’ Cup. It’s the sixth race at Vincennes, contested at 2,100 meters (1-5/16th mile), with approximate post time at 10:03 p.m. local time (4:03 p.m. EDT). The purse is 36,000 Euros (approximately $50,000). The competition ends with a Sunday (June 26) race, also at Vincennes.

Below is the field for the Friday race: