by Ken Weingartner, USTA Media Relations Manager

Sir Pinocchio took the lead from a group of breaking horses on the first turn and held off favorite Blackhawk Zette in the stretch to win Saturday’s $134,900 Dexter Cup for 3-year-old male trotters by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:56.2 at Freehold Raceway. Stockholm Hanover finished third.

Sir Pinocchio, the 2-1 second choice, set fractions of :30.1, :59.3, and 1:28.1 on his way to the victory, his second in two starts this season.

“He raced super,” trainer Ed Hart said about Sir Pinocchio. “There was a lot of mix up in the first turn, and I held my breath there for a minute. They came pretty good the last quarter (:28.1). He’s all right. He’s the real deal.”

Six horses went off stride in the Dexter Cup, with Sir Pinocchio and Blackhawk Zette, who won the Bobby Weiss Series final this past Monday, the only two to remain trotting for the entire mile. Sir Pinocchio and Blackhawk Zette started from posts six and seven, respectively.

“It was kind of a mess in the first turn; I didn’t know what was going on, everybody was blowing up,” winning driver Jason Bartlett said. “We got through the mess and once I got around the first turn, I was pretty happy to be in the spot where I was. I didn’t realize that (Blackhawk Zette) got on my back until going down the backside, so I knew I had a good horse on my back, but (Sir Pinocchio) trotted home well.

“It was a good effort, a good race. Hopefully, he keeps improving like he is. He’s going to be a good horse.”

The triumph continued a run of stakes success for Sir Pinocchio’s family at Freehold. His dam, Lady Cromwell, is a full sister to Lord Cromwell, who won the 2017 Dexter Cup in a still standing stakes-record 1:55. His second dam, Oh Oh Its Magic, won a division of the Lady Suffolk Stakes in 2007.

Those two stakes-winners, who combined to earn more than $932,000 in their careers, were bred and owned by Carolyn Atherton and her husband, Irv, as is Sir Pinocchio.

Sir Pinocchio, a son of stallion Met’s Hall, was a New York Sire Stakes Excelsior Series champion last year. He has hit the board in seven of nine lifetime starts, winning four and earning $123,877.

The gelding is not eligible to August’s Hambletonian but is staked to several other major Grand Circuit races for 3-year-old male trotters, including the Yonkers Trot, Canadian Trotting Classic, and Matron.

“We have high hopes for the young man,” Irv Atherton said earlier in the week. “We can only keep our fingers crossed that he stays healthy. We’ve got the right trainer and the right driver, so everything is good.”

Sir Pinocchio paid $6.20 to win.