Vernon: Six Pack starts off New York Sire Stakes season in style

Six Pack, who won the New York Sire Stakes final in the 2-year-old colt trot group last year, kicked off his sophomore season with a 1:53 1/5 score in the first of three sire stakes tests for 3-year-old colt trotters on Friday night at Vernon Downs. Helpisontheway and Don picked up victories in the other splits.

Driven by trainer Ake Svanstedt in the $40,600 test, Six Pack got away in the pocket behind Cruising In Style (Jim Morrill Jr.), who chopped out opening-half splits of 28 and 56 2/5. Svanstedt pulled the trigger with his charge past the half, advanced side-by-side with the pace-setter at the 1:24 4/5 three-quarters, then took the lead in upper stretch. From there, Six Pack had to hold off a closing Voss Volo (Corey Callahan) on the outside, which he did by half a length. Cruising In Style held third.

Svanstedt also co-owns Six Pack, a colt by Muscle Mass, with partners Little E LLC., Stall Kalmar Ff and Lars Berg. This was Six Pack's fifth win from nine career starts, and he has now earned $218,942. He was the 2-5 favorite after a third and a win in two qualifiers at the Meadowlands and paid $2.90 to win.

In the next $39,900 tilt, Vic's Winner (Andy Miller) went to the front first, reaching the opening quarter in 28 2/5 before he gave way to Clive Bigsby (Jason Bartlett) on the way to the 58 second half-mile station. Clive Bigsby was still the leader at the 1:27 3/5 three-quarters, but Helpisontheway (Tim Tetrick) was advancing after pulling first-up from fourth, and he would sustain that move into the lane where he took control. After striking the front, Helpisontheway poured it on, opening up to defeat Clive Bigsby by 2 3/4 lengths in a final clocking of 1:55 flat. Vic's Winner stayed on to take third.

Helpisontheway, who wrapped up his freshman season with a third-place effort in the six-figure Kindergarten final at the Meadowlands, is trained by Linda Toscano for owners The Bay's Stable LLC. and Camelot Stable Inc. A Chapter Seven colt, Helpisontheway now has a pair of victories from nine lifetime efforts, and he has banked $56,338. Sent off as a 6-5 co-favorite with Clive Bigsby after finishing third and first in two qualifying races at the Meadowlands, Helpisontheway returned $4.50 to win.

The final sire stakes showdown, worth $40,600, saw Yuge (Andrew McCarthy) blast to the top from post eight, clicking off an opening quarter in 27 seconds flat. Public choice Omaha Omaha (Morrill Jr.) then overtook Yuge for command, and he would front the field to the 56 4/5 half and 1:26 1/5 three-quarters, with Don (Andy Miller) first-up and just a half-length behind at the latter marker. Don would wrestle away the lead as they spun for home, then held on late, with Classichap (Trond Smedshammer), who was seventh at three-quarters, trotting up a storm on the far outside to just miss by a neck in a 1:54 3/5 mile. Seven Iron (Tetrick) came on for the show spot from third-over.

Julie Miller trains Don, a colt by Credit Winner, for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc. and Little E LLC. Don, who was second in last Saturday's Dexter Cup final at Freehold, is now a three-time winner from nine trips behind the gate in his career, and he has pocketed $114,935. The 2-1 second choice, Don paid $6.30 to win.