By Rob Potter
MONTICELLO — July 20, 2004 – It didn’t take a perfect track or even company in the race to spur Victory Speech to a new 2:02 track record for 2-year-old trotting colts on Sunday at Monticello Raceway.
Directed by Jeff Gregory in one of six New York Sire Stakes events, the colt dropped the former record, which was set in 1996, by two-fifths of a second.
“He was very good today, he’s a nice colt,” said Gregory in the winner’s circle. “He was a little nervous; he just needs to calm down a little.”
Victory Speech started from the rail in his pari-mutuel debut on a track just starting to get sloppy due to the afternoon’s persistent drizzle. When a number of horses broke stride and scattered the field just after the start, Victory Speech was already ahead of the confusion.
He went on to a huge lead, with no horses reaching within a dozen lengths for the :30.2, 1:00.1 and 1:30.3 fractions. He continued to draw off and won by 34 lengths.
The son of Sir Taurus is trained by Jim Arledge for William Donovan’s Sterlingbrook Farms, Inc.
Locally trained Getthemoney proved to be a sentimental winner for owner Peter Sienkwicz of Middletown. The Credit Winner colt won for the second time in three starts, cutting the mile in 2:05.2. Sienkwicz bred the colt, but gives all the credit to his daughters, Betsy Phillips, who trains the horse, and Mary Sienkwicz.
“After 20 years, the girls have worked so hard that they deserve a horse like this. He was the one,” said Peter of the colt, who is well-staked nationally. “It’s once in a lifetime you get a homebred like this.”
The dam of Getthemoney is Ampong, who was also campaigned by the family and was once named Horse of the Year at Monticello Raceway. She is a 100 percent producer, with her richest offspring being Gettheflakout, who boasts a $133,800 bankroll.
The Ray Schnittker Stable sent out two winners on the card. After going three-wide out of the first turn, Hewitt Blue Chip scored an easy mile-cutting victory with Schnittker to break his maiden in 2:04.2. He is owned by Schnittker with Seal Stable and Stephen Demeter.
“Ray says he’s better than Last Call At Dem’s last year,” said Demeter in the winner’s circle, referring to the horse he campaigned with Schnittker and trainer Paul Doherty to a 2-year-old championship in 2003.
Schnittker also directed Connors Blue Chip to a 2:04 victory over the sloppy track. The driver shares ownership in the Sir Taurus colt with Frank Baldassare at the Eat My Dust Stable and with Demeter, Kindergarten Stud and Herb Burns.
“He’s a small horse, but his gait stood out from day one,” commented Burns, who serves as the veterinarian for Blue Chip Farms, where the colt was raised.
Connors Blue Chip, a full brother to $540,000 winner Vernon Blue Chip, was the last foal out of the good broodmare Amanda T Collins. This was a major factor when Jean Brown decided to buy into the colt.
“It was pretty sentimental,” said Brown, who is part of Kindergarten Stud with her parents Bill and Lydia Brown.
Bill Brown was the longtime farm manager of Blue Chip Farms.
“I bought part of the horse and didn’t even ask my dad,” Jean Brown said. “When I got home I said, ‘Guess what, we have a horse.’”
Representatives of Blue Chip Farms in Wallkill showed up in force for the Sire Stakes debut of the first crop by their stallion Credit Winner. The stallion had two winners, while his barn-mate Sir Taurus scored four victories on the card, making the afternoon a Blue Chip sweep.