Batavia: Seven Hundred, JD victorious in NYSS splits

Seven Hundred and JD both stopped the teletimer in 1:52 4/5 in winning the pair of $59,200 New York Sire Stakes events for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers that took place on Wednesday night at Batavia Downs.

Twin B Deluxe (Jason Bartlett) led through fractions of 27 3/5, 57, and 1:24 2/5 in the first grouping, but Seven Hundred (Jim Morrill Jr.) was brought to the outside from the pocket late on the last turn, overtook Twin B Deluxe in the lane, and held sway over Roll With The Flow (Mark MacDonald) by three-quarters of a length. Twin B Deluxe ended up third.

Jake Leamon trains Seven Hundred, a Huntsville colt bred by Blue Chip Bloodstock and Our Horse Cents Stables, for owner Rick Berks. This was his fifth career victory, he has now earned $97,889, and he paid $9.70 to win as the 7-2 third choice.

In the other flight, JD (MacDonald) shot to the front from post five and carved out a 27 2/5 opening quarter, but he would come under attack by a first-over Pleaseletmeknow (Braxten Boyd) coming to the 57 1/5 half-mile point. JD was able to keep Pleaseletmeknow parked around the third turn, over to the 1:24 3/5 three-quarters and onto the final bend, and then put away Pleaseletmeknow for good before they turned for home.

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Once he dispatched his outside challenger, JD accelerated away from the rest of the field through the stretch drive, and he would win by 2 3/4 lengths over Syracuse Express (Morrill Jr.). Pleaseletmeknow had to settle for third and saw an end to his three-race win streak that included his elim and the final of the MGM Grand Messenger Stakes and a sire stakes leg at Monticello.

Trainer Ray Schnittker also co-owns JD, a gelded son of So Surreal, with breeder/co-owner George Zitone and their partner Melissa Beckwith. JD has seven wins, two seconds, and six thirds from 20 lifetime tries, boosted his bankroll to $260,349, and returned $5.40 to win as the 8-5 second choice.