BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Tuesday, March 1,
2016—“Bittersweet” seems such a woefully inadequate adjective to describe
Yonkers Raceway’s first race Tuesday afternoon (March 1).
The $8,000 pacing event was won by a
first-up Bakersfield (catch-driver Pat Lachance, $8.10) in a season’s-best
1:54.4.
The 5-year-old American Ideal gelding is
owned, trained and just about exclusively driven by Jeff Dauplaise. The
victory, Bakersfield’s second of the season, came one day after Dauplaise’s
mother, Carol, was struck and killed by a livery cab while walking near her
home on Manhattan’s east side.
Mrs. Dauplaise, 77, was a prominent
jeweler and the widow of former New York area driving standout Norman
Dauplaise. Under the Saddle Rock Stables banner, the family has bred and
raced any number of successful horses. According to the U-S Trotting
Association’s David Carr, 18 of those horses have earned at least six figures,
led by Carolsideal ($439,771), Mr. Music ($315,459), Knight N’ Armor ($297,449)
and Twofour Eight ($286,442).
