YONKERS, NY, Saturday, April 21, 2012--Yonkers Raceway Saturday night offered
up fifth and final preliminary round competition in its George Morton Levy
Memorial Pacing Series competition.
Four. $50,000 events comprised the fourth round, with many of the usual
names--save for the AWOL Foiled Again--strutting their stuff.
Defending series champ Real Nice (Jason Bartlett, $2.70) was this season's
five-legged monster, as in the only entrant to sweep all his prelim
performances. Leaving from post position No. 2 in the evening's final event, he
stepped around pylon attendee Strand Hanover (Luc Ouellette). Slogging early
fractions (:28 and :57) eliminated whatever suspense might have lingered. A
:55.2 back half (1:25, 1:52.2) gave Real Nice a comfy,
three-quarters-of-a-length win.
Strand Hanover ducked inside, but was no match, while Clear Vision (Yannick
Gingras) was third and Power of a Moment (Brent Holland) fourth.
For Real Nice, a 7-year-old Real Artist gelding co-owned by Beverly and Gary
Paganelli and Anthony Scussel & trained by Rich Banca, it was his fifth win
in eight seasonal starts. The exacta paid $4.70, the triple returned $8.60 and
the superfecta paid $50.
"What can I say about him?" Bartlett asked aloud. "To beat these
horses five weeks in a row. He's so quick out of the gate that he's able to
control the race, but I've also had him when he's raced very well off a helmet.
He's been a pleasure to drive, and I hope we get some luck with the draw for
the final."
Saturday night's other play dates played out as such...
1st division--Second-choice Valentino
(Cat Manzi, $5.50), a solid, first-up, runner-up to Real Nice a week ago, took
no prisoners from the pylons here. Retaking from Code Word (Gingras) after a
27.2 opening quarter-mile, he threw down the gauntlet to the tune of :55.2,
1:23.1 and 1:51. That effort matched Foiled Again's fastest mile of both the
series and local season. Power of Tara N (George Brennan) won the scrum for
second--beaten five lengths--with P H Jackpot (Brian Sears) third. Nob Hill High
(Jordan Stratton), as the 11-10 favorite, was a brutal-trip fourth.
For Valentino, a 5-year-old son of
Rocknroll Hanover owned by KDM Stables and trained by Nick Surick, it was his
first win in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid $14.80, the triple returned
$191 and the superfecta paid $499.50.
2nd
division--A sharp, two-move effort earned third-choice Razzle Dazzle (Sears,
$7.70) his first series win. Starting outside his six rivals, he dropped in
fourth, chasing 19-10 favorite Flipper J (Manzi). The pole-sitter reclaimed
from Shoobee's Place (Pat Lachance), then set sail through intervals of :27.3,
55.3 and 1:23.1. Razzle Dazzle chased through that :27.4 third quarters, then
picked off the leader early in the lane. He widened to win by 3¼ lengths
in 1:51.1. Third went to Dancin' Yankee (Bartlett).
For Razzle Dazzle, a 5-year-old Real
Desire gelding trained by Richie Silverman and owned by Ira Kristel, it was his
first win in four seasonal starts. The exacta paid $26.60, with the triple returning
$75.50.
3rd division--Third-choice Art Z (Brett Miller, $8.90), from post No. 3, found the front, rated it softly relative to the first two divisions (;28.1, 56.4 and 1:24.3), then held off pocket-sitting Fitz's Z Tam (Sears) by three-quarters of a length in 1:52.2. Shark's Legacy (Stratton) added value to triple, sneaking past Atochia (Gingras) late at 99-1.
For Art Z, a 4-year-old statebred
Artiscape gelding owned by Richard Lombardo and trained by Jordan Rubin, it was
his third series victory and fourth win in a dozen seasonal starts. The exacta
paid $20.80, with the triple returning $224.
The $455,000 final of the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series, along with
the $297,000 final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker, are both scheduled for next
Saturday night, Apr. 28.
As he did Friday night after the Blue Chip Matchmaker prelims had ended.
tally meister Bob (Fingers and Toes) Miecuna offered the final Levy leg
standings...1--Real Nice (375 points), 2-Art Z (312), 3-Foiled Again (275),
4-Fitz's Z Tam (270), 5-Strand Hanover (263), 6-Atochia (258), 7-Nob Hill High
(245), 8-Blatantly Good (242).
Again, we remind that these are points only, and do not necessarily represent
those lad who have qualified for the final. That determination shall be made by
the race office in conjunction with the rules of the series.
The
Raceway's five-night-per-week (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday) live
schedule continues. First post for all programs remains at 7:10 PM.
Evening simulcasting accompanies all live programs, with afternoon simulcasting
available around the NYRA schedule.
