Forrest Blu stars in NYSS

Forrest Blu was the fastest two-year-old pacing male of the four New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) winners as he repeated in the harness racing series on Monday at Monticello Raceway.

He was also the first winner, taking over the lead at the half for Tyler Buter in the opening division and scoring comfortably by two lengths in 1:54.2. John Butenschoen trains the Roll With Joe gelding for Harmony Oaks Racing Stable of Sorrento, Crawford Farms Racing of Syracuse, and James Crawford of Erieville. The group, which includes the horse’s breeder, purchased him for $11,000 from the Lexington Select sale. Forrest Blu has won two of his first four starts, including a 1:54 victory at Saratoga on Jul. 24.

FORREST BLU REPLAY

Huntsville gelding Stretch The Line’s victory took the longest, but it was most decisive division win. He fought for the front end early and extended his lead at every call to win by eight and a quarter lengths in 1:56.1. It was the second of three NYSS wins on the day for Buter. Erv Miller trains and owns Stretch the Line; he spent $16,000 to take the horse home from the Goshen Yearling sale. The gelding has won four of six tries to date and is now two-for-two in the NYSS after also scoring at Saratoga on Jul. 24.

STRETCH THE LINE REPLAY

Flip My Chip, a gelded son of Heston Blue Chip, gave Miller a training double in a three-and-a-half-length 1:54.4 win. Miller co-owns Flip My Chip, whom he purchased for $20,000 from the Lexington Select Sale with Sara Miller of Stroudsburg. The horse is now two-for-four lifetime. Marcus Miller provided the steer.

FLIP MY CHIP REPLAY

Pickup Man Hanover crushed his group, taking the second split by six and a half lengths after swooping to the front on the backstretch for Buter. Another son of Huntsville, he has won two of three career appearances, including an NYSS contest at Buffalo Raceway on Jun. 30. Dennis and Simone Noud of Saratoga Springs purchased him for $22,000 from the Harrisburg sale and appointed Monica Krist as the trainer.

PICKUP MAN HANOVER REPLAY

Monticello also hosted three Excelsior A and two Excelsior B contests during the program. The winners were:

A – Power Blu – by Heston Blue Chip, driven by Matt Kakaley, trained by Sam Schillaci, owned by Schillaci Stabled LLC and Sam Bova Racing LLC.
A – Lannister Hanover – by Hunstville, driven by Jordan Stratton, trained by Kevin Mc Dermott, owned by Gotcha Looking Stable and Mc Dermott.
A – Shakertown – by American Ideal, driven by Jason Bartlett, trained by Tony Alagna, owned by Crawford Farms Racing and Alan Johnston.
B – I Pay Your Salary – by Roll With Joe, driven by Buter, trained by Amber Buter, owned by Buter Farm Inc., Lynette Buter, and James Marion.
B – Timetoroll Hanover – by Roll With Joe, driven by Mark Macdonald, trained by Claude Huckabone Jr., owned by John Sixt and Huckabone.

Sire stats: Huntsville had the most success in the top tier with two winners and had three total with another progeny taking an Excelsior A split. Roll With Joe had a NYSS winner and swept the Excelsior Bs. Heston Blue Chip captured an NYSS division and an Excelsior A. American Ideal won a sole A division.

Monticello Raceway will host its next card on Tuesday, Aug. 3 with a 12:10 p.m. EDT first post. The eight-race program features an Open Pace.

The New York Sire Stakes continues on Aug. 3 with rookie pacing fillies taking the spotlight at Yonkers Raceway. To view the NYSS schedule, click here.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink