Eastie Boy leads Burke one-two punch in $115,000 Matron Stakes

DOVER, Del. — On the strength of an early push to the fore, Eastie Boy recorded the second graded stakes win of his rookie campaign with a 1:50.1 score in Thursday’s (Nov. 5) $115,000 Grade 3 Matron Stakes for 2-year-old male pacers at Bally’s Dover and leading a sweep of the top two placings for trainer Ron Burke.

Eastie Boy sat third early before driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. activated him coming off the first turn, just after Stonebridge Blitz (driven by Yannick Gingras) brushed clear of early pacesetter Hungry Marco (Tim Tetrick) to take control at the end of a :27 first quarter. Eastie Boy cleared his stablemate with just over a lap to go, and the Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer colt traveled unopposed through middle splits of :55.4 and 1:23.4.

Turning for home, Eastie Boy shifted gears and threw down a :26.2 closing quarter, extending his winning margin to 2 lengths with plenty in reserve. Stonebridge Blitz was a clear-cut second, 5-3/4 lengths better than BC’s Odds On (Brandon Givens), who emerged up the open stretch to take third over the tiring Hungry Marco.

EASTIE BOY REPLAY

Eastie Boy, whose five wins this season also include the Grade 1 Metro Pace and a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes preliminary, has earned $647,932 from 12 starts while competing as a homebred for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura. As the 1-2 favorite, he paid $3 to win.

 

Hawaiian Warfare extends streak in DSBF prelim

Hawaiian Warfare ($2.40), who in October recorded a clean sweep in his Delaware Standardbred Breeders’ Fund (DSBF) series at Harrington Raceway, maintained his winning form with a lifetime-best 1:53.2 victory in the third of three $20,000 first-round DSBF Dover Series preliminary events for 2-year-old male pacers.

In line to Michael Cole, Hawaiian Warfare made all the pace en route to his eighth consecutive win, defeating See Jack Run (Ross Wolfenden) by 2-1/4 lengths. Erin Neilson trains the U S Captain-Ukulele Blue Chip gelding for owner/breeder Forrest Bartlett.

HAWAIIAN WARFARE REPLAY

Odds-on favorites also captured the other two DSBF splits: He’s Soaring ($2.80) and driver Ryder Skinner rallied to a 1:54.3 score over Earl’s Watching for trainer Jason Skinner, and Aeneas ($3.60) and driver Montrell Teague posted a gate-to-wire 1:54.4 win over Bootcamp Baby for trainer Jamie Sullivan.

 

Wehadababyetzaboy dominates in Blue Hen Open

Barbara Boese and Wendy Crissman’s Wehadababyetzaboy ($3.60) looked every bit the part of a 4-5 favorite in the $27,500 Blue Hen Open Pace, taking charge early and powering clear of his seven rivals late for a 1:49.4 win.

Brandon Givens pointed the 7-year-old Sweet Lou-Camille gelding out of the pocket midway around the first turn to seize control from Dale Yeah (Tony Morgan) just after a :27.2 quarter. Wehadababyetzaboy was never in doubt from then on, rating a :56.1 half before throwing down a vicious :53.3 back half to defeat Dale Yeah by 7-1/2 lengths and miss his lifetime mark by just a fifth of a second. Steven’s Saloon (Jason Thompson) circled stalled cover and rallied to just miss the runner-up spot.

WEHADABABYETZABOY REPLAY

Wehadababyetzaboy capped a training grand slam for Chuck Crissman Jr., who also won with Blood Feud ($74,80, Givens, 1:53.2), Renaissance Deo ($4, Tetrick, 1:50.3) and Easy Breeze ($2.20, Tetrick, 1:49.4).

Racing returns to Bally’s Dover on Monday (Nov. 9); the 15-race program features a pair of $20,000 first-round DSBF preliminaries for 2-year-old trotting fillies at the top of the card. Harrington series champion Daringly has been installed as the 9-5 favorite in the second split, carded as race 2. On the wagering front, there will be a carryover of $1,307.17 in the 50-cent pentafecta, offered in the final race. First post is 4:30 p.m. (EST).

For more information, visit www.ballysdover.com.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

from Bally’s Dover