Vernon: Trotters lure McCarthy for Empire Breeders Classics

Driver Andrew McCarthy will be making the trip to upstate New York on Friday with a solid hand in the rich Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon Downs. The events solely for New York-sired sophomore trotters feature one $205,500 division for colts and geldings and a pair of $102,500 divisions for the fillies.

McCarthy hopes to keep the Chapter Seven-sired gelding Ahundreddollarbill undefeated in 2021 as the Tony Alagna trainee faces six others in the Empire Breeders Classic colt and gelding division carded as race nine.

"I've been very impressed with him so far," said McCarthy of Ahundreddollarbill, who was a New York Sire Stakes winner over this surface on June 4. "He's very well-mannered and you can do whatever you want with him."

So far this year McCarthy has sent Abundreddollarbill to the front and the results have been perfect. In his debut on May 28 at The Meadowlands, Ahundreddollarbill handled a sloppy surface flawlessly going down-the-road in a 1:54 3/5 clocking. In his NYSS victory, McCarthy played it cool leaving and strolled to the front past a 27 2/5 first quarter. Ahundreddollarbill did the rest with evenly rated fractions that sparked a 1:52 2/5 career-best mile over some of the same horses he'll face on Friday.

Make no mistake, the Empire Breeders Classic should be hotly contested. "Ake (Svanstedt) has a pair of really good horses in the field," said McCarthy, who was more than happy that he drew inside of Incommunicado (post 6) as well as Ambassador Hanover (post 7) in the field. Incommunicado was second behind Ahundreddollarbill in his NYSS victory on June 4 but was a Grand Circuit winner in 2021 after capturing the $115,583 Dexter Cup at Freehold on May 1.

Ambassador Hanover has won five of his eight lifetime starts for Svanstedt and was a handy 1:53 winner in New York Sire Stakes action at Vernon on June 4.

Though he's winless in three starts this year, it would be wise not to count out Dee's Red Delicous as yet. Trainer Bruce Saunders may have needed some extra time with the 3-year-old altered son of Credit Winner after a late-fall campaign that saw Dee's Red Delicous capture the Kindergarten Series finale at The Meadowlands and then finish a close fourth in the Valley Victory.

McCarthy appeared quite excited with the prospects for Darlene Hanover (post 3) in the second (race 8) of two Empire Breeders Classic events for the trotting fillies.

"I was really happy with the way she raced two weeks ago," said McCarthy, referring to a second-place finish in a New York Sire Stakes event at Vernon on June 4. Darlene Hanover came from the back of the pack to finish a solid second posting a 27 1/5 final quarter in the process.

Last year Darlene Hanover captured the prestigious James Doherty Memorial at The Meadowlands in August but ended her freshman campaign with a pair of off-the-board finishes. "She got off track towards the end of the year with some sickness issues," said McCarthy, who remains a solid fan of the Brett Bittle-trained daughter of Chapter Seven.

Darlene Hanover is likely to see strong opposition in the form of Sweeping Rainbow (post 2), who prepped for this contest with a solid second-place finish in a New York Sire Stakes division here on June 4.

On paper Traquility K (post 2) would appear to be a longshot in the first (race 6) Empire Breeders Classic for fillies but McCarthy believes there's more to her than meets the eye.

"That break (June 4 - New York Sire Stakes at Vernon) was part my fault," McCarthy said. "I tried to leave out of there a bit too fast."

While McCarthy gives his filly a shot in this field, there are some heavy hitters in this division, including last year's 1-2 finishers in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes final -- Iteration and Aela Jamieson. Iteration (post 4) is starting to make a name for herself as opposed to be known just as Gimpanzee's younger sister. Iteration has won six of her 11 career starts for trainer Marcus Melander including a hard-fought 1:54 victory in her sophomore debut here on June 4 in New York Sire Stakes action. Aela Jamieson (post 5) looks to improve on her third-place finish in her first start of the year for trainer Julie Miller.

The 11-race Friday program at Vernon Downs begins at 6:10 p.m.