After Tuesday's $331,270 Dick McGuire Trot for 3-year-old colts and geldings, the statebreds are at it again both Thursday and Friday.
Thursday night (Sept. 6) finds the $290,455 Jim Crawford Pace for freshman colts and geldings. Drawn and quartered (races three, five, seven and eight), the event finds talent in every division.
The opening $72,905 division includes Swift As A Shadow (Tim Tetrick, post two), a Bettor's Delight colt who has won half of six starts and more than $82,000 this summer. Linda Toscano trains the Winbak Farms homebred, who was a handy NYSS winner here last month.
The second $72,905 grouping includes Deny Deny Deny (Tetrick, post one) and America'sgottalent (Jason Bartlett, post three). The former, a son of Art Majortrained by Toscano for owner Ken Jacobs, has been first or second in five first-season tries ($96,746). The latter, a son of American Ideal, has won three of eight efforts, hitting the board a half-dozen times. Ron Burke trains for Our Horse Cents Stables.
Thursday night's third $71,605 sire stakes sojourn includes the return of Sheppard Pace winner Hail The Taxi (John Campbell, post seven). The son of Art Major, who authored a 35-1 stunner in that $119,000 July stakes race, subsequently finished second to divisional standout Captaintreacherous in the $309,050 Woodrow Wilson at the Meadowlands. Jim Campbell trains for Fashion Farms as Hail The Taxi makes his first start in 33 days.
His primary competition figures to come from Sir Cary's Z Tam (Pat Lachance, post four), a Bettor's Delight colt who already has a local sire stakes win on his resume.
Thursday's final $72,905 statebred event brings the Empire's upper echelon in the form of Doctor Butch (Tetrick, post five). The Art Major colt, trained by Toscano for owner Jacobs, has six wins (including his last five starts) and a pair of seconds in eight '12 efforts for earnings of $161,782.
Doctor Butch was second in the final of the Sheppard (after winning his elim), then won a local NYSS appearance at odds of 1-20. His life-best of 1:52, taken two starts back at Tioga, is the fastest win time of any of Thursday's sire stakes entrants.
Friday night (Sept. 7), the $291,440 Pat Quaglietta Trot for 2-year-old fillies, like the Crawford, was sliced and diced into four divisions (races three through six, at $72,860 each).
The evening's first event is led by the board-perfect Barn Babe (John Cummings, Jr., post four). The daughter of Cash Hall, owned and trained by Steve Pratt, has three wins, three seconds and a pair of thirds ($73,123 in earnings) in eight efforts this season. However, she did tire to third as the odds-on choice when these ladies first hit town about a month ago.
The second grouping is led by Pretty Crazy (Brent Holland, post two). The daughter of Crazed, co-owned and trained by Brandon Simpson, has won five of her eight starts ($56,674 in purses), including a wire-to-wire victory in the lasses' first local go-round here in early July.
Friday's third statebred group looms a battle of the three inside interests with You Want Me (Jim Morrill, Jr., post one), Royal Malinda (Dan Daley, post two) and Palm Beach Chic (Jeff Gregory, post three) all enjoying solid summers.
You Want Me, a Credit Winner lass, co-owned by breeder William Weaver III and trainer Paul Kelley, enters with handy wins in her last two tries. Royal Malinda, a daughter of RC Royalty trained by Daley for co-owners Ann-Mari Daley, Purple Haze Stables and Richard Lombardo, has hit the board in four of her seven tries this season. Palm Beach Chic, a Conway Hall miss co-owned by her driver and Bill Richardson and trained by Linda Toscano, has a couple of statebred wins in her last five efforts.
The evening's final foray features talented lasses in the form of Lady Riviera (Morrill, post one), Proclaiming April (Trond Smedshammer, post two) and Isabella Gal (Morrill also listed, post five).
Lady Riviera, a daughter of Sand Vic owned and trained by Rich Banca, has three wins and a pair of seconds in six seasonal starts, with $56,384 in earnings. Promising April, a White Birch Farm homebred trained by Smedshammer, has a couple of wins and a third in five '12 tries with $50,125 in purses. Isabella Gal, a daughter of RC Royalty co-owned by trainer Jeffrey Long, Bob and Lynn Brooks and John Buettner, has five wins in eight tries ($86,083 in earnings), with one of those wins coming here last month.