BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Monday, June 15,
2015—Yonkers Raceway hosted the ladies Monday night, specifically the $166,375
New York Sire Stakes Art Watson Pace for 3-year-old fillies.
Three divisions, at $55,125, $56,125 and $55,125, comprised the event.
Band of Angels (Yannick
Gingras, $2.80) won both the draw and the endorsement of the electorate,
holding sway (:28.3, :57.3, 1:25.4, 1:54.3) in the opening event. She defeated
pocket-sitting Bettorhaveanother (Jim Morrill Jr.) by a half-length, with
Divine Caroline (Dave Miller) third.
For Band of Angels, a daughter
of Rock N Roll Heaven owned by W J Donovan and trained by Ron Burke, it was her
second (NYSS) win in four seasonal starts. The exacta paid $6.90, with the
triple (three wagering favorites in order) returning $15.40.
The seven-horse field nearly
finished in odds-ascending order, had 27-1 My Little Delight (sixth) been able
to get past 37-1 Bosser’s Joy for fifth.
It was essentially the same MO
in the second division, as pole-sitting, odds-on fave Not Before Eight (Scott
Zeron, $3.50) was a handy victress.
Away third early, she worked
around last season’s frosh champ, Mosquito Blue Chip (Morrill Jr.), after a :27.4 opening quarter-mile. She then led the lasses for
the remainder (:57.2, 1:27, 1:55.1), swatting “Mosquito” by a
length-and-a-half. First leader Luck Be a Lindy (Mark MacDonald) was
third.
For Not Before Eight, a
Bettor’s Delight miss (unraced at 2) trained by Steve Elliott for owner Ernest
Hartman, she’s 6-for-9 this season and a perfect 6-for-6 here (first five wins
in overnight). The exacta (two choices in order) paid $5.90, with the triple
returning $17.40.
Zeron and Elliott doubled
their sire stakes pleasure in the final NYSS event when Rock Me Gently
($35.20)—from post position No. 6—rallied from third over. They did so after a
front-end battle between 7-10 fave Bettor N Better (Gingras), She’s Heavenly
(George Brennan) and a first-up Hipnumberone (Greg Merton).
Those three prompted the pace
(:27.1, :55.4, 1:24.4), setting it up for
someone to pick ‘em off. It was Rock Me Gently and 46-1 rank outsider
Nippy W Hanover (John Campbell) closing from the back in a pedestrian (:30.1)
final quarter, with the former whipping the latter by a length. Third went to
Heavenly Bride (Brian Sears).
For sixth choice Rock Me
Gently, a daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven co-owned by Old Block Stables, Fra
Stable and Kenneth Klein, it was her third win in six seasonal starts. The
exacta paid $786, with the triple returning $2,551.
