BY FRANK DRUCKER,
Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, May 2,
2015—Season-debuting Bee a Magician (Brian Sears, $9.20) and Michael’s Power
(Dan Dube, $4.20) both went down the road Saturday night, winning Yonkers
Raceway’s co-featured $42,000 Open Handicaps.
Bee a Magician, 2013’s Harness Horse of
the Year, showed no signs of a five-month hiatus and a pair of mundane
qualifiers in the weekly trotting feature. In play from penultimate post position
No. 56, she worked around Luminosity (George Brennan), then held sway through
weight stations of :27.4, :57.1,
1:26.3 and 1:54.4.
That effort
established a new track record for aged trotting mares.
Luminosity
chased around the oval, but was beaten a head. It was more than lengths back to
Tweet Me (Tyler Buter) in third, with Lorenzo Dream (Jason Bartlett) and Modest
Prince (Steve Smith) completing the cashers. Not Afraid (Dube), first-up as the
7-5 favorite, was poor and backpedaled to last.
For third choice Bee a Magician, a 5-year-old daughter of Kadabra trained by
Nifty Norman for co-owners Melvin Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee, it
was her 32nd win in 48 career starts ($2,756,270). The exacta paid
$36.50, with the triple returning $206.50.
The week’s featured pace saw 11-10 choice
Michael’s Power, from post No. 5, move past One Through Ten (Bartlett), then
finish it off (:27.3, :56.3, 1:24.4,
1:52.1), Second, beaten 2½ lengths, was a buried-alive The Real
One (Pat Lachance), who skimmed the cones. One Though Ten, Duel in the Sun
(Mark MacDonald) and Big N Bad (Sears) settled for the remainder.
For Michael’s Power, a 6-year-old
homebred Camluck gelding bred/owned by Jeff Snyder and trained by Mark Silva,
it was his fifth win in 12 ’15 tries. The exacta (two wagering favorites) paid
$9.50, with the triple returning $66.50.
The Raceway’s live season continues
Saturday night (post time 7:10 PM). After that, it’s Monday (7:10 PM), a
French-centric Tuesday (1 PM, first round of the Jackpot Next Door Claiming
Series), then Thursday through Saturday (all at 7:10 PM). Note Sunday matinees
are done until November. Evening simulcasting accompanies all night programs,
with afternoon simulcasting available daily.
