Yonkers, NY — Driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Travis Alexander joined forces with Howlenthehills and Huntingforchrome to win both New York Sire Stakes divisions for 3-year-old male pacers that headlined Thursday’s (Aug. 8) program at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
In the first $82,500 section, which was contested over a track rated sloppy and two seconds off, Texas Holdem (Brent Holland) was the early leader but was overtaken by Vandiemen Bluechip (Braxten Boyd) before the :27.1 opening quarter, and then Vandiemen Bluechip released a brushing Howlenthehills to the point on the second turn.
Howlenthehills sailed through a :56 half and a 1:24.2 three-quarters from there, and a :28.2 final panel got him to the wire 3-1/4 lengths ahead of Bruce’s Vo N Coke (Jason Bartlett) in a 1:52.4 mile. Texas Holdem crossed the wire in third but was deemed to have committed a pylon violation past three-quarters and was demoted to fourth behind Taranaki (Tyler Buter).
The runner-up in the MGM Grand Messenger Stakes final at Yonkers in June, Howlenthehills is an American Ideal gelding who was bred by Crawford Farms and is owned by Symmetry Stables LLC. This was his ninth win from 18 career outings, he has earned $346,481 and he paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 favorite.
Boston Rocks (Bartlett) went to the engine from post five in the other $84,000 flight and left Seen Here (Buter) parked out through stations of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:25.2. Huntingforchrome and Kakaley watched that duel ahead of them from the pocket, and when Seen Here tired on the final bend, Kakaley had room to tip Huntingforchrome off the inside in the stretch. Once Huntingforchrome had space, he had plenty of pace to go with it and rallied past Boston Rocks, defeating him by a neck in a 1:54.1 effort. Ameritric (Scott Zeron) was the third-place finisher.
Another Crawford Farms-bred, Huntingforchrome, a gelded son of Huntsville, is owned by NY Seb Inc. Huntingforchrome has compiled a record of 7-2-2 from 24 lifetime starts, he has put away $300,202 and he returned $3.00 to win as the 1-2 choice.
There were also two $20,000 New York Excelsior “A” Series splits for sophomore pacing colts and geldings on the card, and they were won by:
· Jones Hanover (by Huntsville and bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc., paid $11.00 to win) in 1:54.4 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., trainer Mike Deters and owners Old Block Stables Inc., Kenneth Klein and Stephen Demeter;
· Pop It (by Huntsville and bred by Kathryn and M.K. Weed, paid $3.80 to win) in 1:54.4 for driver Brent Holland, trainer Ray Schnittker and owners Schnittker Arnold, Country Club Acres Inc., Joe Sbrocco and Ted Gewertz.
New York Sire Stakes action returns to MGM Yonkers Raceway next Thursday (Aug. 15) as 3-year-old filly pacers will be in town to compete in their final leg of the regular season.
MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-through-Saturday live racing schedule with post time at 7 p.m. (EDT), though the track will be live next Wednesday (Aug. 14) as well.