Yonkers, NY – Heavy favorites Sir Pinocchio and Fly By were up to the task in the pair of New York Sire Stakes divisions for sophomore trotting colts and geldings on Thursday night (July 18) at MGM Yonkers Raceway, scoring in 1:55 and 1:56.3, respectively.

Sir Pinocchio picked up the win in one division of the New York Sire Stakes this afternoon at Yonkers Raceway. Mike Lizzi photo.

Sir Pinocchio, who won the final of the MGM Yonkers Trot when last seen at the oval, landed in third in the opening $82,500 split, but driver Jason Bartlett moved to the outside early and was able to get the top spot away from Nottingham (Marcus Miller) after the :28 second opening quarter. From there, Sir Pinocchio remained in control through middle-half panels of :57.1 and 1:26 before he used a :29 second final kicker to seal the deal. Keep Asking (Tyler Buter) found room between horses in the lane and was a gaining second, three-quarters of a length behind Sir Pinocchio, and Nottingham, who swung out of the pocket late on the final bend, wound up third.

Ed Hart trains Sir Pinocchio, a gelding by Met’s Hall, for owner/breeder Carolyn Atherton. Sir Pinocchio has seven wins, four seconds and two thirds from 16 appearances, has pocketed $383,103 and paid $2.50 to win. He was atop a $5.40 exacta and a $20.80 trifecta.

In the other $84,000 flight, 22-1 shot Voss Blue Chip (Yannick Gingras) blasted to the lead from post four and was unwilling to cede the front to 5-2 second choice Super Duper Cooper (Jordan Stratton) when that one came off the pylons prior to the :27.4 quarter, forcing him to back off into the pocket. With the front-end secured, Gingras then slammed on the brakes in the second quarter to get to the half in just 59.2 as Fly By (Scott Zeron) began to advance first-over from fourth.

Voss Blue Chip was plenty game off that well-rated tempo and managed to repel Fly By to the 1:28 three-quarters, around the last turn and into the stretch, but Fly By just kept persisting to the outside and managed to finally wear down Voss Blue Chip in the closing strides, defeating him by half a length. Victor Laszlo (Mark MacDonald) finished well off Fly By’s cover and was up for the third spot.

Fly By, a Chapter Seven colt, was bred by Al Libfeld, Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband and Libfeld and Katz share ownership of him with Pryde Stables Inc. The Tony Alagna trainee has a summary of 3-5-1 from 18 trips behind the gate, has earned $193,312 and returned $2.50 to win. He keyed a $20.00 exacta and a $72.00 trifecta.

There were also three $20,000 New York Excelsior “A” sections for the 3-year-old male trotters on the program, and they were won by:

–Woweress (by Crazy Wow, bred by owner Purple Haze Stables LLC., paid $3.20 to win) in 1:55.4 for driver Tyler Buter and trainer George Ducharme;

–Ramborain (by Crazy Wow, bred by co-owner Ann-Mari Daley with James Crawford IV, paid $12.60 to win) in 1:58.3 for trainer/driver Dan Daley and co-owners Jlrl LLC., Todd Van Alstyne and Margaret Waterbury;

–Sky Box (by E L Titan, bred by Steve Jones, paid $8.20 to win) in 1:56.4 for driver Brent Holland, co-owner/trainer Paul Kelley and co-owners Go For Glory Stable, Ellen Palillo and Matt Lamont LLC.

New York Sire Stakes action will occur at MGM Yonkers Raceway again next Thursday (July 25) as 2-year-old colt and gelding pacers will compete in their fourth preliminary round.

MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday/Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday live racing schedule with post time each night at 7 p.m.