Tioga: Sophomore male trotters clash in NY Sire Stakes

A pair of New York Sire Stakes tests for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters took place on Saturday night at Tioga Downs, and it would be Balenciaga and Dewey Arnold who visited the winner's circle.

All eyes were on Ahundreddollarbill (Andrew McCarthy) in the first $56,000 section, and he would take the lead past the 27 second opening quarter. Ahundreddollarbill maintained the top spot through a 56 1/5 half and a 1:24 4/5 three-quarters, but Balenciaga (Wally Hennessey) attacked first-over out of fourth before the latter station and advanced to menace Ahundreddollarbill on the last turn.

Ahundreddollarbill managed to fend off Balenciaga around the final bend and continued to dig in through the lane, but Balenciaga just wouldn't go away on the outside and forged his way by coming to the wire, scoring by a head in 1:53. Ambassador Hanover (Scott Zeron) was the third-place finisher.

"I gave him a shot and it worked. He dug in, and he gamed it out," remarked Hennessey.

Balenciaga, who raced as part of a Crawford Farms-owned entry with Ahundreddollarbill, is trained by Paul Kelley. S R F Stable co-owns the victorious Chapter Seven gelding, who has a record of 2-2-1 from nine starts and a bankroll of $78,597. He paid $2.70 to win. Crawford Farms also bred Balenciaga.

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Dewey Arnold, sent off at 1-9 in the other $55,000 division, went right down the road to win for Jason Bartlett and co-owner/trainer David Dewhurst. Dewey Arnold laid down fractions of 27 4/5, 57 1/5, and 1:25 2/5, then closed in 28 1/5 to win by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:53 3/5. Credit Con (Scott Zeron) was next, followed by Seven Nation Army (Mark MacDonald).

"This horse has come a long way since last year. Dave's done a great job with him. It was good for him to come here and have a nice, easy race," said Bartlett. "He's just a big, grinding horse. He just likes to keep rolling."

A gelding by Deweycheatumnhowe, Dewey Arnold is co-owned by Philip Hale. He is now a 12-time winner, has pocketed $199,495, and returned $2.10 to win. Dewey Arnold was bred by Franklin Fiero.