Vernon: Spencer Hanover attains millionaire status after EBC triumph
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Marcus Melander trainees Spencer Hanover and Nezuko Kamado S won their Empire Breeders Classics for New York-sired 3-year-old trotters on Friday afternoon at Vernon Downs, while Knoxville captured a New York Sire Stakes event for sophomore male pacers.
In the $176,530 Empire Breeders Classic for colts and geldings, Spencer Hanover (Jason Bartlett) was third at the 29 second opening quarter, but Bartlett brought him to the outside in the backstretch and moved up to take the lead away from Read The Room (Sarah Svanstedt) past the 58 1/5 half. From there, Spencer Hanover picked up the tempo to 1:26 1/5 at three-quarters, and his 28 2/5 final quarter was good enough to get him to the wire a quarter-length ahead of a rallying Twin B Seven Sins (Niko Karna) in 1:54 3/5. Seven Grand (Ake Svanstedt) checked in third.
A Chapter Seven colt bred by Hanover Shoe Farms and owned by Jeff Snyder and Arthur Pronti, Spencer Hanover has a summary of 7-4-1 from 18 outings and has banked $1,034,112. He paid $2.10 to win.
Sharp Seven (Jeff Gregory) cut fractions of 28, 56 2/5 and 1:24 3/5 in the $195,020 Empire Breeders Classic for the fillies, with R Ro (Tyler Buter) on the march first-up out of fifth on the last turn and followed by Nezuko Kamado S (Scott Zeron). In the lane Sharp Seven gave way to R Ro and Nezuko Kamado S, and after they battled to the wire, it was Nezuko Kamado S in front by three-quarters of a length on the wire in 1:52 4/5. R Ro was a good second, followed by Lauren's Chapter (Karna), who advanced from sixth to third in the final quarter.
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Nezuko Kamado S, by Chapter Seven, was bred by owner Courant Inc. She has eight wins, two seconds and a third from 13 appearances, has pocketed $705,410 and returned $3.24 to win.
Knoxville (Buter) backed up his sire stakes win at Buffalo on June 3 by taking the $121,800 male pace in 1:50 3/5. He cut opening-half panels of 28 1/5 and 56 1/5, then got separation on the rest of the field as he motored towards three-quarters in 1:23 1/5. The margin only continued to widen from there, as Knoxville tacked on a 27 2/5 kicker to prevail by seven lengths over Mighty Matt (Braxten Boyd). Hunt Off The Press (Jason Bartlett) collected third.
Trainer Ray Schnittker also co-owns Knoxville, a colt by Huntsville, with partners Milt Leeman, Louis Palumbo and Ted Gewertz. The Fair Winds Farm and Bellevue Farms-bred made his fourth stop in the winner's circle from 15 starts, has put away $215,544 and paid $3.62 to win.