YONKERS, NY, Friday, April 27, 2012—With the conclusion of Blue Chip Matchmaker
preliminary parade, Yonkers Raceway's Friday night fare was highlighted by the
$33,000 Open Handicap Trot...
...which was highlighted by a high price, as in pocket-patrolling, 40-1 stunner
Coach Fox (Larry Stalbaum).
Assigned the pole, Coach Fox shadowed Some Like it Hot (George Brennan) through
early intervals of :27.4 and :57.2. First-up came Wuthering Hanover (Jordan
Stratton), with 13-10 favorite Flex the Muscle (Jeff Gregory) behind that one.
However, "that one" was a flat one, making no inroads in and out of
the 1:26 three-quarters. Some Like it Hot, with a length-and-a-half lead
entering the lane, was about to buckle. Coach Fox edged from the pocket, with
Celebrity Bluechip ducking inside.
The former whipped the latter by a head in 1:55.2 That effort matched the
fast local trotting mile of the season. Third went to a Flex the Muscle, with
Looking Hanover (Yannick Gingras) and Some Like it Hot completing the cashers.
For Coach Fox, a 9-year-old Keystone Nordic gelding co-owned by his driver and
Mike Sorentino Jr. and trained by Kim Asher, he returned $82 for his second win
in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid $284, with the triple returning
$2,055.
Gingras, who first gained prominence in Westchester a decade ago, was feted
Friday for his 4,000th career victory, accomplished this past Sunday afternoon
at Harrah's Chester.
