BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, March 12, 2016—Bad
Boy Matt (Mark MacDonald, $19.20) lasted—barely—from first-up Saturday night,
winning Yonkers Raceway’s $32,000 Open Handicap Pace.
Spectating early from post position No. 5,
“Matt” saw 3-10 favorite Bit of a Legend N (Jordan Stratton) and fresh
parimutuel Lasix Roland N Rock (Dan Dube) both leave inside of him.
“Roland” was able to get away cheap enough
(28-flat opening quarter-mile, :56.4
intermission) before Bad Boy Matt moved to challenge from fifth. Roland N
Rock continued to lead in and out of a 1:25.2 three-quarters.
Despite the
seemingly-comfy fractions, “Roland” was foldin’ off the final turn. This did
nothing for the cause of a trapped-in Bit of a Legend N as Bad Boy Matt opened
some daylight early in the lane.
Bit of a
Legend N finally saw the passing lane closed relentlessly, but ran out of
racetrack. Bad Boy Matt’s nose was at the line first in 1:53. A season-debuting
Ideal Cowboy (Jason Bartlett) was a fast-moving third, with Dream Out Loud N
(George Brennan) and Justified (Eric Abbatiello) rounded out the payees. Roland
N Rock faded to seventh.
For third
choice Bad Boy Matt, a 6-year-old Badlands Hanover co-owned by Legacy Racing of
Delaware & Reginald Hazzard II and trained by Wayne Givens, it was his
third win in a nine seasonal starts. The exacta paid $37.80, with the triple
returning $303.50.
Saturday
night also saw the season’s fastest mile(s), a pair of 1:51.3 efforts by Lunar
Tide N (Shaun Vallee) and Mattamerican (Bartlett). Also, when 28-1 Keystone
Honor (Brennan, $59.50), 35-1 Aberdeen Hanover (Pat Lachance) and 9-1 Life Up
Front (Stratton) crossed the line 1-2-3 in the 11th race, it
resulted in a $12,299 triple, richest locally thus far in 2016.
