BY FRANK
DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Monday, March 9,
2015—Yonkers Raceway’s 2015 stakes season began Monday night, with a pair of
divisions in the Petticoat Pacing Series.
The series, for 3- and 4-year-old
ladies who are/were non-winners of four races and/or $40,000 through last Dec.
1, offered those two, $12,500 events.
Witch Dali (Tim Tetrick) became the
first local 1-20 ($2.10) proposition of the season, handily winning the first
division. She negated her outside post position right away, whipping around her
six rivals and going the distance (:28, :57.2, 1:25.4,
1:54.1). The final margin was a wrapped-up length-and-a-half over
Cruisinwithmybaby (Tyler Buter), with Always Sunday (George Brennan) third.
“She was perfectly-gaited and handled
the track very well,” Tetrick said, without a hint of an Australian accent.
For Witch Dali, a 4-year-daughter of
Dali co-owned (as Alagna Racing) by (trainer) Tony Alagna and Brad Grant, it
was her third win (first two were series finals of Niagara and Worldly Beauty)
in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid $7.40, with the triple returning
$17.40.
Pole-sitting Hay Stacked (Eric Carlson,
$7.50) slipped out in the final turn, picking off 7-5 favorite Cheyenne Robin
(Dan Dube) and winning the second Petticoat division in 1:54.4. The margin was
a neck, with pace-setting (:28.1, :57.3; 1:26.3) Royal Mama (Matt
Kakaley) third
For third choice Hay Stacked, a
4-year-old daughter of Art Major co-owned by (trainer) Gilberto Garcia-Herrera
and Stephen & Brian Gordon, it was her first win in four ’15 tries. The
exacta paid $17.20, with the triple returning $34,80
She’s a small (mare), but she tries real
hard and she’s rounding into form at the right time,” Carlson said.
Series action continues Tuesday
afternoon, with five, $12,500 divisions in the opening round of the Sagamore
Hill for 3- and 4-year-old male pacers.
