Saratoga Harness: Rookie trotting males tussle in NY Sire Stakes

Two $70,300 New York Sire Stakes divisions for 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters were the highlight races on Monday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel, and Ahundreddollarbill and Ambassador Hanover emerged victorious.

In the first split Incommunicado (Ake Svanstedt) led the way early, but Dee's Red Delicous (Corey Callahan) pulled to the outside before the 29 second opening quarter and cleared after that point. Dee's Red Delicous continued on to a 59 2/5 half, but he made a miscue coming off the third turn, which was good fortune for a first-over Ahundreddollarbill (Jason Bartlett) as he inherited a big lead on the field going to the 1:29 2/5 three-quarters as trailing horses got jammed up behind the breaking leader.

With that sizable advantage already in his pocket, Ahundreddollarbill looked like a million bucks in the final quarter, coming home in 28 2/5 to stop the clock in 1:57 4/5. He extended his margin to 8 1/4 lengths over Incommunicado at the wire, with In The Cards (Marcus Miller) third.

Ahundreddollarbill is a Chapter Seven colt trained by Dan Daley for owners Crawford Farms Racing, James Crawford IV, and Ann-Mari Daley. Ahundreddollarbill, who broke his maiden in his third chance and boosted his earnings to $44,012, was bred by Jonas Schlabach and is the first foal out of the RC Royalty mare Swinging Royalty (1:54 1/5, $255,880). Ahundreddollarbill was a 12-1 shot and paid $27.40 to win.

The other section saw Ambassador Hanover (Svanstedt) run his career record to three-for-three with a front-stepping victory in 1:59 1/5. Starting from post five, Ambassador Hanover shot to the point, put up panels of 29 2/5, 1:00 1/5, and 1:30 2/5, and downed pocket-sitter Steel (Bartlett) by 3 1/2 lengths. Sevenshadesofgrey (Callahan) took a shot at the winner from first-over in the third quarter but was rebuffed and wound up third.

The victorious Chapter Seven colt is also trained and co-owned by Svanstedt in partnership with Order By Stable, Howard Taylor, and Judith Taylor. Ambassador Hanover, bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc., was a $100,000 acquisition at the Standardbred Horse Sale and has pocketed $79,775 from his two New York Sire Stakes triumphs. Ambassador Hanover's dam is the Cantab Hall mare Angel Eyes Hanover (1:57 1/5, $57,850), a half-sister to former Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Trot runner-up Angelette Hanover (Yankee Glide, 1:56 3/5, $317,892). Ambassador Hanover returned $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favorite.