(Dayson photo by Steve Roth.)
(Reve Royal photo by Melissa Simser.)
By Tim Bojarski, Batavia Downs Media Relations
When the 2-year-old colts and geldings converge on Batavia Downs for the $111,000 New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) on Wednesday (Aug. 5), an unstoppable object will face an immovable force to lay claim to being the best in the state for this sex and gait.
The first division of the $55,500 stake features Reve Royale (RC Royalty-Dream Street) lining up against Dayson (Conway Hall-Nervey’s Taurus) in a contest that will see one of them suffer their first defeat of the year.
Reve Royal is a perfect three-for-three and just took his lifetime mark of 1:56.3 at the Meadowlands last week. He is a perfect two-for-two in NYSS action this year, including a very impressive 1:59.4 win at Saratoga Raceway that saw him trot a 58.4 back half over the half-mile oval.
He is trained by George Ducharme, who conditioned the 2013 Hambletonian winner, Royalty For Life, and will be driven by Chris Lems. Reve Royal has been listed as the morning line favorite and will leave from post 5.
Dayson is also undefeated with three consecutive wins and has been trotting away from his competition in all of his races. His fastest outing to date was at Saratoga on July 2; a win in 2:00.1. But his best effort may very well have been last week at Buffalo Raceway.
After making a break after the start, Dayson and driver Jeff Gregory spotted the field 16-lengths at the quarter pole. Gregory then gathered his horse together and rallied for a one-length victory in 2:02.2; last half in 59.2, last quarter in 28.4.
Dayson and Gregory will team up once again to see if they can get another tally from post six for trainer Howard Okusko. Okusko is hot right now having just won the Adios Pace this past Saturday (Aug. 1) with Dude’s The Man.
It’s interesting to note that Reve Royal is a colt and Dayson is a gelding, so there is a chance that one of two track records could be rewritten in this race, depending on who wins. The Batavia Downs record for a 2-year-old trotting colt is 1:58.4 set in 2010 by Dejarmbro and the 2-year-old trotting gelding mark is 1:58 set just last year by Buen Camino.
The second $55,500 contest has the three perceived favorites lining up from the three inside posts as mirror images of each other. All are geldings, have comparable earnings, have one NYSS victory and are all coming off lifetime marks.
Credevie (Credit Winner-Fleur De Vie) drew post seven in his last start at Yonkers Raceway but overcame it with style. Trainer/driver Trond Smedshammer left and tucked third before pulling at the three-quarters to gain a close victory in 2:00.3. Credevie did not compete in the NYSS leg at Buffalo last week so he has not raced in three weeks.
Andrew Goldstein (RC Royalty-Final Time) had post five at Yonkers and left for position. He eventually sat the pocket trip for trainer/driver Kim Crawford, before pulling away to an easy four-length win in 2:00.4. Andrew Goldstein also did not compete in the NYSS leg at Buffalo last week so he too has not raced in three weeks.
Allerage Echo (Conway Hall-Echonomical) did race at Buffalo last week and did it well. Trainer George Ducharme had driver Chris Lems cut the mile and that allowed Allerage Echo to walk away with an easy five-length victory in 2:03.3. The horse could have obviously gone more but it wasn’t necessary as he had the race well in hand.
Credevie has post three and is favored at 2-1. Andrew Goldstein has post two and is 5-2. Allerage Echo starts from thepylons and is listed at 4-1.
There are also three divisions of the NYSS Excelsior A series that will split a total of $45,000.
Post time for the first of the 12-race card at Batavia Downs is 6:35 p.m.
