by Frank Drucker, publicity director, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway

Yonkers, NY — Not every good 3-year-old trotter finds his (or her) way into the Hambletonian. There’s a pretty fair Yonkers Raceway group gathering Friday night (July 27) in the $173,500 New York Sire Stakes Dick McGuire Trot for the sophomore colts and geldings.

Post time for the dozen-race card s 6:50 p.m., with the pair of $86,750 sire stakes events — named for the former New York Knickerbocker standout, Hall of Famer and avid horseplayer — going as races seven and eight.

The opening division includes Helpisontheway (Brian Sears, post three), who held sway in last weekend’s $61,900 boys’ division of the Tompkins-Geers Memorial at The Meadowlands. The son of Chapter Seven is thrice a winner in seven seasonal starts, including a statebred win at Tioga (life-best 1:52.2). Linda Toscano trains for Camelot and Bays Stables and Little E LLC.

Winning Shadows (Mike Simons, post two) was a fresh-Lasix, 12-1 upsetter at Monticello in his last start. The Credit Winner gelding, trained by Jake Huff for co-owners Our Horse Cents and J&T Silva Stables, has won three of his eight seasonal starts.

Clive Bigsby (Mark MacDonald, post seven) was runner-up (to Six Pack) in last season’s $225,000 frosh final, while Tito (Brent Holland, post five) is trying to regain some of 2017’s nearly-$240,000 form. Purpose Blue Chip (Dan Daley, post eight) has a resume highlighted by sire stakes wins at Monticello and Buffalo.

Friday night’s second and final division sees The Veteran (Jordan Stratton, post two) as arguably the horse to beat. The Muscle Mass colt, co-owned by trainer George Ducharme, Steven Michaels, Bill Donovan and Jim Winske, has been the odds-on choice in his last four tries (two sires, two overnights). He settled for second (to Winning Shadows) at Monticello in his latest and is four-for-seven this season.

Perlucky (Trond Smedshammer, post five) enters off a 15-1 Catskills NYSS win, his first of in a half-dozen ‘18 tries. Smedshammer also trains the son of Lucky Chuck for Purple Haze Stables.

Don (Jason Bartlett, post seven) has sire stakes wins at Vernon (life-best 1:54.3) and Buffalo.

New York Sire Stakes continue here Monday night (July 30) with the $172,000 Bruce Hamilton Pace (3-year-old colts/geldings).