BY FRANK
DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY,
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 – Yonkers Raceway Tuesday night hosted the $202,599
New York Sire Stakes Jim Crawford Pace for 2-year-old colts and geldings.
Three divisions -- at $67,933,
$67,933 and $66,933 -- comprised the competition.
As was the case Monday night,
driver Yannick Gingras won two of the evening’s three sire stakes events.
In the second division, he went
the distance—from post position No. 4--with Cartoon Daddy ($4.90), holding off
some unwanted advances from 32-1 proposition American Crossroad (Scott Zeron).
The former kept the latter at bay, winning by three-quarters of a length in
1:54.4. Berkley (George Brennan), at 78-1, was third, with 51-1 Ultimate G
(Eric Carlson) fourth.
Cartoon Daddy’s job was made much
easier when 7-10 fave The Spy (Tim Tetrick) broke in the first turn and
division points leader coming into the night Americanprimetime (Tyler Buter)
misbehaved while making a second move.
For second choice Cartoon Daddy, a
son of Art Major co-owned (as Burke Racing) by (trainer) Ron Burke and Joe
DiScala Jr., it was his fourth win in a half-dozen seasonal starts. The
exacta paid $53.50, the triple returned $887 and the superfecta paid $6,937.
“The best thing about him is his
gait,” DiScala said. “We wanted a horse who could get around the small tracks,
and he’s been very impressive.”
Gingras and Bet You ($2.80) won
the final statebred grouping, moving to the lead (from post No. 2) before the
half and closing it out in 1:55.1. The final margin was a wrapped-up
length-and-three-quarters over 25-1 Yippity Hanover (Tetrick), with 42-1
Betting Exchange (Jim Morrill Jr.) third. A breaking K Ryan Bluechip eliminated
himself as the second choice.
For Bet You, a son of
Bettor’s Delight trained by Jimmy Takter for co-owners Christina Takter, Jim
& John Fielding and Joyce McClelland, he’s now 2-for-5 in ’14, with both
wins coming here. The exacta paid $44.40, with the triple returning $390.
“Ideally, you’d like to race these
2-year-olds out of a hole, but the way the races shaped up, I had no choice but
to put them on the lead,” Gingras said. “Cartoon Daddy tends to wait on other
horses a bit, but he dug in when he had to.”
The evening’s first division saw a formful favorite in Southwind Masimo (Pat
Lachance, $2.60) roll off cover to run his record to four wins in as many
starts. From post No. 5, he tracked Azorean Art (Larry Stalbaum), then blew
past that one to widen out by 2¼ lengths in 1:55.1. Dee’s Rocketman (Brian
Sears) was third.
For “Masimo,” a
Bettor’s Delight colt trained by his driver for co-owners Hudson Standardbred
Stable and Conrad Leber, he took over the points lead in this division. The exacta
paid $12.60, with the triple returning $66.50.
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.
