Monticello: Hunt Off The Press smashes track record in NY Sire Stakes victory

Hunt Off The Press lowered the track record for a 2-year-old gelding pacer at Monticello by a second and a fifth after he won Monday afternoon's $112,100 New York Sire Stakes event in 1:53 1/5.

Driven by Tyler Buter, Hunt Off The Press showed speed from post one and then yielded to track favorite Fragment (Jason Bartlett) nearing the 27 3/5 quarter. Fragment would continue to show the way to the half in 56 seconds and the three-quarters in 1:24 3/5 as the top two gained separation on the others and turned it into basically a match race.

Fragment was game on the front-end in the lane, but Buter had Hunt Off The Press closing to the outside, and Hunt Off The Press was able to get by Fragment in the closing strides on his way to the victory by a length and a quarter. Lakewood Nick (Dan Rawlings) was third, double-digit lengths behind Hunt Off The Press and Fragment.

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The previous track record of 1:54 2/5 for a rookie pacing gelding was first set by Forrest Blu on August 2, 2021 and then was equaled by Hurrikane Hunter on August 22, 2022.

Jared Bako trains Hunt Off The Press, a gelded son of Huntsville bred by James Crawford IV, for owner Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. Hunt Off The Press has two wins and two seconds from four outings, has put away $122,100 and paid $7.40 to win as the 5-2 second choice.