Yonkers: Toscano shines in sophomore New York Sire Stakes finals

Yonkers Raceway hosted eight $225,000 New York Sire Stakes finals on Saturday night (9/22), and trainer Linda Toscano shined through the quartet of races exclusive to 3-year-olds by picking up a pair of wins and a second.

The sophomore action kicked off with a trot for fillies and Plunge Blue Chip had no equal, brushing to the front in the opening quarter and cruising around the track for the easiest of victories.

With trainer and co-owner Ake Svanstedt in the bike for owners Blue Chip Bloodstock, Tomas Andersson and Rick Zeron Stables, Plunge Blue Chip set fractions of 29 2/5, 58 1/5 and 1:26 3/5 as she opened up on the field. The final clocking was 1:55 3/5.

Svanstedt had five starters in the final and finished first and third to sixth, with Lima Novelty (Linda Toscano trainer) and Ciao Dolce coming in second and third behind the winner who paid $2.20.

“She is going to race the second week at Lexington and then head to the Breeders Crown,” said Blue Chip’s Tom Grossman. “You have to be thrilled with her race tonight. She’s gone with some of the big ones this year like Phaetosive and Manchego and she will again.”

While perhaps not as flashy as Plunge Blue Chip, Wisdom Tree had no trouble getting the job done for driver Tim Tetrick in the 3-Year-Old Filly Pace. The Ed Hart trainee took command from the start, set fractions of 27 4/5, 57 1/5 and 1:25 2/5 with only token pressure from a first-over Alexis Faith, who finished third, and won in 1:53 2/5. Newsday sat the pocket and edged into second.

For Wisdom Tree ($2.50) it was her 11th win in 14 starts this year for owners Thomas Pollack and Jeffrey Cullipher. The daughter of Betterthancheddar will head back to Cullipher in Indiana and take aim at the Courageous Lady, Matron and some Hoosier Park stakes.

“She is not eligible to the Breeders Crown or Lexington stakes,” said Hart, who will relinquish the training duties for now. “Hopefully I’ll get her back for the Blue Matchmaker series next year.”

The 3-Year-Old Colt Trot produced plenty of excitement but was ultimately won by the favorite as Helpisontheway charged off cover to get the victory for driver Jim Morrill Jr.

Winning Shadow posted a reasonable opening half of 28 and 57 before long shot Purpose Blue Chip came to call on the rim. The two hooked up by three quarters in 1:25 3/5 as Helpisontheway tracked nicely behind the cover. When the field straightened into the lane, Morrill said go and the Linda Toscano trainee finished strong for the 1:55 win over a parked-the-mile The Veteran and Purpose Blue Chip.

“I was loving life,” said Morrill about the trip.

The Chapter Seven-sired Helpisontheway ($3.50) now has seven wins and four seconds in 13 starts this year for owners Camelot Stable Inc., The Bay’s Stable LLC., and Little E LLC. The colt’s next start will come in the Simpson at Harrah’s Philadelphia before some stakes engagements at Hoosier Park.

“He’s not eligible to the Breeders Crown,” said Toscano, who explained that the original owner was ill and forgot to stake the horse. “We had to make all of the payments just to get him into these races.”

The Sire Stakes card wrapped up with a second Toscano win in a race marred by an accident as the Brian Sears-driven Springsteen, sent off as the 6-5 favorite, refused to behave as the race began and wiped out half the field, including second choice Ghost Dance.

“They tried a rigging change and he didn’t like it,” said Sears, who said he came out of the incident with only mild back discomfort and the horse appeared to be fine.

12-1 shot Ostro Hanover set the pace as a foursome remained in serious contention. After fractions of 27 1/5 and 57 2/5, My Delight blew past the leader on the backstretch and was quickly met by Rockapelo, who took charge past the 1:25 three-quarter clocking and cruised home as much-the-best in 1:53 1/5 with Jason Bartlett in the bike.

My Delight was second and Ostro Hanover third.

For Bartlett, the win put him over the $100,000,000 mark in career earnings for horses he has driven.

“It’s just everything,” said Bartlett about the importance of the number. “That ones for my grandfather, because he stood by me when I was younger and pushed me to be better than ok. To reach that milestone and to do it at my home track is perfect.”

Rockapelo ($11.40) more than doubled his 2018 earnings with the win. It was his third victory in 13 seasonal starts for trainer Toscano and owner Enviro Stables. Like stablemate Helpisontheway, he’ll head to Philly for his next starts before a trip to Indiana.