Keep Asking Victorious Again in Sire Stakes Finale

August 29, 2023

Monticello, N.Y– The final New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) of 2023 took place the afternoon of August 28 with the 2-year-old Trotting Colts closing out the season. Vernon, New York, based horsemen enjoyed success Monday afternoon as George Ducharme won two events and Dan Daley had one winner to take home three of the four NYSS events. Jordan Stratton drove two winners on the Sire Stakes card and Justin Huckabone had a pair of winning drives in conditioned races.

The lone Sire Stake race was a six-horse contest worth $104,000; Titan Your Grip was on the muscle from post position 3. The son of EL Titan was up by 5 in the first quarter in 28.4.  The lead was diminished to 1 length at the half in 1:00, with the 2/5 favorite Keep Asking in the 2 hole.  Down the backside, the second time around, Jordan Stratton aboard Keep Asking wasted no time and was on the move when they straightened out with a 29.2 third panel and collared the leader. Keep Asking, the small son of Chapter Seven, stormed home as an easy 3 length winner over Super Duper Cooper (Bartlett). There was a dead heat for third between Titan Your Grip and Chaplind. The win pushed Keep Asking’s seasonal earnings to over $148,000 for owners W. Donovan, Joe Sbrocco, Jim Winske and trainer George Ducharme.

The first dash of Excelsior action saw Woweress, with Frank Affrunti in the bike, power their way to a wire-to-wire victory over But Why (M. Miller) in 1:58.1 – $16.60 (a fifth of a second off the track record). The son of Crazy Wow, Chaperess notched his second win on the year. He is trained by George Ducharme for owner Purple Haze Stables LLC. The betting favorite Sir Pinocchio finishing third (Bartlett)

The following race saw Fringed, with Dan Daley in the bike, blasted off the gate, despite being straddled with the 8 hole. He grabbed the lead past the brisk, with an opening panel of 28.4.  From there, Fringed controlled the tempo with a 2-length advantage throughout, although a hard charging Barn Credit (J. Bartlett) gave him a brief scare at the wire. Fringed held on for the win in 1:59 -$14.00, the favorite Tobern, finished third. It was Fringed’s second consecutive win, a win which gave him much sought after points for the upcoming Excelsior Finals on September 13 at Batavia Downs.  The Crawford Farm bred son of Crazy Wow, Jinx is co-owned by trainer driver Dan Daley, J. Daley, O. Ivutin and Bain Racing Stable.

Scoring another wire-to-wire victory was Crazy Brother Jim (Crazy – Wow – Isolde). The heavy favorite Voss Blue Chip had a bad day and never made it to the starting gate. The 9-1 Crazy Brother Jim raced very well, controlled the tempo, and strolled home a winner over Sky Box (M. Macdonald) to earn his first lifetime win in an evenly rated 2:00 – $20.40 for driver Jordan Stratton.

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