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Saturday, April 28, 2012

YR - COACH FOX WINS FRIDAY NIGHT 33G OPEN HANDICAP TROT

BY FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway

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.