BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Sunday, March 13, 2016—Major
Athens (Brian Sears, $11.20) gutted it out Sunday afternoon, winning Yonkers
Raceway’s $40,400 Open Handicap Trot.
Assigned post position No. 7, he was one
of several leavers through some quick fractions. Crazshana (Jason Bartlett)
played leapfrog on the lead with Red Hot Herbie (Dan Dube) between equal
opening intervals of :28.2 ( :56.4 half).
It took a half-mile before Major Athens
finally made the lead, and when he did, that left 3-2 favorite Luminosity
(George Brennan) outside all by his lonesome.
Meanwhile, Major Athens held his advantage
through a 1:26 three-quarters and a 1:55.3 milepost. Then, Dot Dot Dot Dash
(Matt Kakaley) wound up from last, surging into contention in and out of the
final turn.
Major Athens owned a length-a-three-quarter
lead entering the lane, then held off a pocket-pulling Crazshana and a
flattening Dot Dot Dot Dash. The margin over the former was three-quarters of a
length in 2:25.4, a track record for his weight class at this added distance (a
tick faster than Papagayo E’s effort in last fall’s International Trot).
Dot Dot Dot Dash, Latoka (Eric Carlson)
and Money Maven (Andy Miller) completed the cashers, while Luminosity backed up
to last.
The weekly trotting feature was one of
seven “French” races, each listed with 10 horses (though there were two
subsequent scratches) at the mile-and-and-a-quarter distance.
For fourth choice Major Athens, a
6-year-old son of Andover Hall owned by Howard Taylor and trained by Tom
Milici, tt was his third win in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid
$50.50, with the triple returning $283.50.
This was the fourth Sunday matinee of the
season, with the next one scheduled for next Sunday (March 20,. first post 1:10
PM). The card features Round 1 of the inaugural Drivers’ Cup, featuring five
leading Yonkers’ drivers against a quintet of their French counterparts.
The Raceway’s
live season continues Monday night (first post 7:10 PM), with the second round
of the Petticoat Pacing Series.
