BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Tuesday, March 15, 2016—Post
positions have been parceled out for the start of Yonkers Raceway’s “adult”
series, the Blue Chip Matchmaker and George Morton Levy Memorial Series.
Each series off five preliminary rounds,
leading to their respective Apr. 23 finals.
Friday night, three consecutive (races 6
through 8), $40,000 events begin the Matchmaker for 23 of the sport’s best
pacing mares.
Defending series champ Venus Delight
(Jason Bartlett, post 2) and runner-up Yagonnakissmeornot (Dan Dube, post 1)
find themselves as next-door neighbors in the second division, with the former
making her seasonal parimutuel debut.
The opening grouping includes local Open
Handicap Regil Elektra (Tim Tetrick, post 3), the
double-millionairess-in-waiting Krispy Apple (Bartlett, post 4) and a
tested-for-class Hazmatt (Brian Sears), who goes after a seventh consecutive
victory.
Friday night’s final Matchmaker event
finds a couple of Breeders Crown finalists from a season ago in The Show
Returns (Sears, post 5) and Lady Shadow (Corey Callahan, post 7), while For the
Ladies N (Jordan Stratton) won last’s season consolation of this series.
Saturday night’s opening round of the Levy
did the Matchmaker two better, with six, $50,000 divisions (races 4,5,6,7, 9
and 10) with seven Free-For-Allers each.
Last season’ s series champ, Domethatagain
(Dube), drew outside of the rivals in the second grouping, while 2014’s Levy
winner, P H Supercam (Bartlett), finds himself stuck outside in the fifth
event.
Take it Back Terry (George Brennan, post
3), bridesmaid to Domethatagain a season ago, landed post No. 3 in the first
division.
The final get-together figures to prove
interesting, with recent local winners Bit of a Legend N (Stratton. post 2),
Let’s Dink on It (Tyler Buter, post 4) and All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley, post 5)
opposing one another.
…and then, there’s Foiled Again. The
now-12-year-old gelding begins his quest for a third Levy title from post No. 2
in the second division. It’s the 247th purse start for harness
racing’s richest horse ($7.3 million), who gets regular date Yannick Gingras
for the assignment.
Foiled Again enters off a pair of seconds
in Meadowlands’ qualifiers.
-30-
(photos-Mike
Lizzi-accompany)
