BY FRANK
DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Thursday, March 27, 2014—Foiled Again turns 200 Saturday night.
Well, not exactly. He’s a spry
10-year-old, but harness racing’s richest-ever pacer makes his 200th
career purse start in the second round of Yonkers Raceway’s George Morton Levy
Memorial Pacing Series.
He landed post position No. 4 in race
No. 11, the evening’s fourth and final Levy division. It appears a simple task,
with Foiled Again the strongest third of Ron Burke-trained troika that opens at
3-5 on the morning line and figures to close much shorter than that.
With a to-date resume of 77 wins
(including a pair of Levy titles), 49 seconds and 27 thirds ($6,055,968) in
those first 199 starts—including a spiffy 1:52.1 effort as this series, and his
season, began a week ago--Foiled Again’s constant companion was asked about
him.
“I first drove him as a 4-year-old (June
of 2008 at Harrah’s Chester) after Ronnie (Burke) bought him,” Yannick
Gingras said of the gelding who’s made a million racing in this series alone.
“He won in 1:50, and I thought,
‘Alright, there’s some talent there,’ but if anyone said then he’d go on to win
more than $6 million, I would have figured they were crazy.
“I don’t think I fully appreciated the things he did when he was younger,”
Gingras said. “To be associated with him has obviously been one of the
highlights of my career. I’ve driven so many great horses, starting with ($2.9
million winner) Darlin’s Delight, but I’d be shocked if another Foiled Again
comes along.
“What makes him so good? His heart. He’s
not the biggest, he’s certainly not the fastest, but he knows exactly what he’s
doing. Last week was the perfect example. I was loose-lining him until about
halfway in the final turn. Then, he saw (Apprentice Hanover) coming and he
swelled up. He knew it was time to go to work.
“He’s the same way on the farm. He sort
of loafs along then all of a sudden, a 26-second final quarter.”
Not even the Levy, a six-week grind that unceremoniously unforgiving on so many
of its contestants either during the series or later in the season, seems to
faze Foiled Again. Is he Levy-proof? “He’s everything-proof,” Gingras said.
“I have to give Ronnie (Burke) so much credit. He sets a schedule for these
horses, and they always make it. Sure, has can a tremendous stable (10 in the
Levy series alone), but his program works. When the horses need time off, they
get it. His horses last. Ten-year-olds are not supposed to do what Foiled Again
is doing.”
This is not to suggest that “Foiled” is flawless. He does have an Achilles
heel, or hoof, as the case may be.
“For whatever reason, he tends to tail off a bit in the summer. In June, July
and August, he’s just not the same horse. I used to make the mistake of
thinking that maybe he’s starting to slow down.
“I don’t make that mistake anymore.”
The Raceway's five-night-per-week live schedule continues, with first post
every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:10 PM. Evening
simulcasting accompanies all live programs, with afternoon simulcasting
available daily.
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