BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, February 20,
2016—Second choices Major Athens (George Brennan, $6.50) and Polak A (Brian
Sears, $7.30) were second to none Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s
pair of $32,000 Open Handicaps.
Major Athens won the week’s featured trot
after being pocketed from assigned post position No. 6.
He watched as Red Hot Herbie (Dan Dube)
led through intervals of :28.3,
:58.4 and 1:28. It was “Herbie” taking a length-and-a-half lead into the lane
while being pestered by 13-10 choice Money Maven (Sears). That one slipped off
the cones from third, engaging in and out of the final turn.
Money Maven
continued well and fought the good fight, but was tripped up by a cone-skimming
Major Athens. The latter whipped the former by a nose in 1:56, with Home’n Dry
(Jordan Stratton), Dot Dot Dot Dash (Matt Kakaley) and Crazshana (Jason
Bartlett) settling for the remainder.
For Major
Athens, a 6-year-old son of Andover Hall owned by Howard Taylor and trained by
Tom Milici, it was his second win in four seasonal starts. The exacta paid $21,
with the triple returning $144.50.
The week’s
marquee pace had a three-move effort from Polak A. Away third from his ordered
post No. 5 venue, he trailed both 4-5 fave Roland N Rock (Dube) and Hugh Hefner
N (Stratton) in a gapping octet.
“Roland” sped
away (:27.4, :56.3, 1:24.3) while “Hugh” lost touch in the pocket. That allowed
Polak A a rest stop when he moved toward the leader. Roland N Rock had a couple
of lengths turning for home, but Polak A was sizing him up and easing past.
He won by a
length in a season’s-best 1:53. Third went to Atta Boy Dan (Brennan),
with Phil Your Boots (Tyler Buter) and Bad Boy Matt (Mack MacDonald) grabbing
the minor moolah.
For Polak A,
a 7-year-old Down Under Pacific Fella gelding co-owned by many Bellinos and
trained by Tony O’Sullivan, he’s now 3-for-5 this season. The exacta paid
$10.60, the triple returned $94.50 and the superfecta paid $646.
Saturday’s
Pick 5, buoyed by a double-carryover of just over $9,400, attracted $24,891 of
new money. The
winning combination of 6-5-3-6-8 returned $2,552 for every correct half-a-buck
ticket.
The Raceway’s
season continues Monday night (post time 7:10 PM), with a dozen races and a
$10,000 guaranteed Pick 5 pool (50-cent base wager, races 7 through 11).
