BY FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Tuesday, March 13, 2012--...And the nominees are...
A total of 94 of the best Free-For-All pacers in training have been nominated for Yonkers Raceway's premier events for the older crowd, the $1 million (est.) Blue Chip Matchmaker and $1.5 million (est.) George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
The 2012 Matchmaker has attracted 43 mares, including last season's division winner (Older Female Pacer), the New York-bred Anndrovette.
Also among the ladies are the 2011 Lady Maud winner, Rocklamation, this season's winner of the Cape and Cutter, Symphony in Motion, last season's Lismore winner, JK Owhatanite, Pancleefandarpels, who won this event in 2009, and 2010 series champ, Ginger and Fred.
And then, there's See You at Peelers, the queen of all she surveyed for all of 2010 and much of 2011. The now-4-year-old statebred of Bettor's Delight went undefeated (13-for-13) at 2, then won her first nine races (including beating the boys in the Art Rooney Pace here) at 3.
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| See You At Peelers, shown here winning a NYSS event last year at the Old Hilltop tackles the older mares in this year's Blue Chip Matchmaker Series (Tom Berg Photo) |
She's ready take on the "mature" crowd after a pair of winning Meadowlands qualifiers.
The Levy features 51 hard hitters, featuring the 2011 series champion, Real Nice, and multi-millionaire Foiled Again, who won the two previous Levy renditions.
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| Real Nice, winner of the 2011 George Morton Levey Memorial Final tries to make it two in the row in this year's series (Tom Berg Photo) |
Real Nice has been prepping for the series by competing in the weekly Open Handicap, while Foiled Again--he of the 58 career wins and more than $3.4 million--finished second in his '12 qualifying debut.
The Matchmaker begins Friday night, March 23, the evening before the opening Levy leg. Both series offers five preliminary rounds, with the Matchmaker events going for $40,000 each and the Levy grouping at $50,000 per. The series finals (and their respective consolations) are scheduled for Saturday night, Apr. 28.
A complete list of nominees can be found at www.yonkersraceway.com, then go to "racing" icon.
Yonkers' five-night-per-week (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday) live schedule continues. First post for all programs remains at 7:10 PM. Evening simulating accompanies all live programs, with afternoon simulating available around the NYRA schedule.
