Three year old colts and geldings took center stage at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Wednesday night. There were two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for sophomore trotters that went for purses of $91,550 and both were won by three year olds by sire Chapter Seven. Lord Cromwell (Chapter Seven- Oh Oh Its Magic- Credit Winner) was moved out to the early lead by driver Jim Morrill Jr. and the Ed Hart trainee rebuffed the challenge of the favored Eye Ofa Tiger As (Jason Bartlett) en route to a career best win in 1:54.3. Lord Cromwell prevailed in a local start last week which served as a nice prep for the sophomore trotter who registered the biggest victory of his young career on Wednesday night. The win time served as a new lifetime mark for Lord Cromwell and was just a fifth of a second off the all-time track record for three year old trotters. Eye Ofa Tiger As had to settle for second but extended his streak of finishing first or second to eight consecutive starts. Swell Chap (Chapter Seven- Gia-Lindy Lane) recorded his first Sire Stakes victory on Wednesday as he went coast-to-coast with Wally Hennessey in the sulky. The Todd Rooney-trained trotter sizzled through a first quarter of 27.3 before backing things down and getting a fairly soft middle half. Swell Chap held strong in the stretch to record his fifth win on the campaign, stopping the timer in 1:55.4. Cresurrey (Credit Winner), part of a Trond Smedshammer-trained entry, wound up as the runner-up to Swell Chap on Wednesday night. New York Sire Stakes action returns to Saratoga on Saturday night when two year old trotting fillies are featured.
Live racing continues on Friday night with a first post time of 7:05pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
