Yonkers, NY – Chapter Geo J and AI, two colts by Chapter Seven, won the pair of $84,000 New York Sire Stakes divisions for 3-year-old male trotters that took place on Thursday evening (July 23) at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Driven by Jason Bartlett in the first split, Chapter Geo J led to the quarter in :28.1 and the half in :57.2, then got separation from the rest of the pack as he trotted towards three-quarters in 1:25.4. From there, Chapter Geo J used a :28.4 final quarter to slam the door on a 1:54.3 victory, defeating a first-over Seven Grand (driven by Tyler Buter) by 6-1/2 lengths. Who’s Eyes Blues (Yannick Gingras) tired from the pocket but held third.
Noel Daley trains Chapter Geo J for owner Ken Jacobs. Bred by Lester Beechy, Chapter Geo J now has three wins, five seconds and a third from 12 starts, has earned $175,544 and paid $3.22 to win as the favorite. He led a $9.02 exacta and a $20.22 trifecta.
In the other section AI (Gingras) overcame the outside post 6 with little issue and was in front of his five foes well prior to the :28.4 quarter. AI then reached the half in :57.4 before Read The Room (Ake Svanstedt) pulled out of the pocket on the third turn and gave cover to favored Silverstein (Matt Kakaley). Read The Room took the lead on the rim before the 1:25.2 three-quarters, but never could clear AI, and AI battled back on the inside in the stretch to defeat Read The Room by half a length in 1:54.3. Silverstein wound up third.
Last year’s New York Sire Stakes champion for this group, AI was sent out by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Hatfield Stables, Knox Services Inc. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The Steve Jones-bred has a summary of 6-3-4 from 21 appearances, has banked $527,794 and returned $11.70 to win as the 9-2 third choice. He was atop a $49.20 exacta and a $95.70 trifecta.
Two $20,000 New York Excelsior Series races also took place, and they were won by:
— DW’s Cha-Ching (by Devious Man and bred by Donald LaPage, paid $10.44 to win) in 1:57 for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander and owner Stranger Stable;
— Flex Up (by Chapter Seven and bred by Crawford Farms LLC, paid $3.70 to win) in 1:58.3 for driver Andy Miller, trainer Julie Miller and owners Miller Iannacone, Jean Goehlen, Ac Crawford Racing Stable and Mortgage Boys Stable.
Beginning next week, MGM Yonkers Raceway is back racing on a Monday/Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday live racing schedule through the second week in September. Post time is at 6:45 p.m. (EDT) except on Saturday when it is 3:30 p.m. (EDT).