Yonkers: Hypnotic Am scores track record in NYSS
On Tuesday evening (July 16) Yonkers Raceway hosted the humid $156,600 New York Sire Stakes Hugh Grant Trot for 2-year-old fillies.
Three, $52,200 races comprised the event.
There wasn’t much out of the ordinary in the first division. Death-and-taxes Love A Good Story (Andy Miller, $2.20) sat off some ambitious fractions (27 4/5, 57 3/5, 1:27 4/5), before moving to the lead and drawing off. From post position No. 3 (in one notch after a defection), she whipped I’lldotitmyself (Scott Zeron) by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:57 2/5.
C Me Hyde (Phil Fluet) and Seeking Royalty (Jordan Stratton), 1-2 through those quick early intervals, wound up third and fourth, respectively.
For Love A Good Story, a daughter of Chapter Seven co-owned by Pinske Stables & Kentuckiana Racing Stable and trained by Julie Miller, it was her third (NYSS) win in as many seasonal/career starts. The exacta paid $32.80, the triple returned $80,50 the superfecta paid $573.
”She’s just so good,” driver Miller said. “She made it look easy.”
Tuesday night’s second sire stakes rendition saw a determined Munster (Stratton, $5.80) hold off a second pocket-pull of Sorprese (Dan Daley). From post No. 5, the former went the distance (28 4/5, 58 1/5, 1:27 3/5, maiden-breaking 1:57 4/5), defeating that rival by a length-and-three-quarters.
Seventimesalady (Ake Svanstedt) was third as the 6-5 favorite, with Olympic Glory (Andy Miller) rounding out the gimmick numbers.
“It was the first time I’d driven her, but she showed she could leave, so I left,” Stratton said. “Then she dug in.”
For second choice Munster, a Chapter Seven miss trained by Per Engblom for co-owners Black Horse Racing and Wiesman Farms, it was that first win in a pair of season/life tries. The exacta paid $57, the triple returned $199.50 and the superfecta paid $2,422.
It took until the final statebred soiree for the gauntlet to be thrown down.
Odds-on Hypnotic Am (Brian Sears, $2.70) vaulted up and over her six inside rivals—the outside foe was scratched—then had her way in a gapped-out group (28, 57 4/5, 1:26 3/5, 1:56 1/5).
The final distance between Hypnotic Am and bridesmaid Really Blue Chip (Anthony MacDonald) was 5-3/4 lengths, while the time was a new track record for the her weight class (Plunge Blue Chip-1:56 2/5 in ’17).
Destiny Blue Chip (Svanstedt, part of entry) was third.
For Hypnotic Am, a homebred Chapter Seven ma’am trained by Marcus Melander for owner Courant Inc., she’s started out 2-for-2 after another blowout NYSS win (in identical times). The exacta paid $24.20, the triple returned $50 and no superfecta wagering due to the presence of a coupled entry.
“Those Melanders do a helluva job,” Sears said.
New York Sire Stakes returns downstate Saturday night (July 27th), with the Milt Taylor Trot for 3-year-old colts/geldings (purse TBA).
-edited release (Frank Drucker for Yonkers)