BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, March 19,
2016—Yonkers Raceway’s Saturday night brought with it the opening round of the
George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
Six, evenly-parsed $50,000 divisions each
featured seven Free-For-Allers beginning five preliminary rounds.
The evening’s fastest (1:51) grouping
produced the evening’s least probable result, as c-noter Texas Terror N (Matt
Kakaley, $100) drew off in the line. Sitting off hot (:26.1; 54.2; 1:22.2) fractions, Texas Terror N—from post
position No. 4--was able to slip out and roll by in a life-best effort.
He defeating a passing-lane-inheriting
Evenin of Pleasure (Dan Dube) by a length-and-a-half, with Sunfire Blue Chip
(Mark MacDonald) a solid third. Santa Fe Beachboy (Jason Bartlett), as the 3-4
choice, was used up in the early fray and faded to fifth.
For “Terror,” an 8-year-old Down Under
Western Terror gelding owned by Blindswitch Racing and trained by Jose Godinez,
it was his second win in nine seasonal starts. The exacta paid $886, with
the triple returning $2,223.
Team Bamond doubled up, winning with
season-debuting favorite Mach it So (Tim Tetrick, $4.10) and P H Supercam
(Bartlett, $12.60). Both were trained by Jeffrey Bamond Jr., who owns the
latter (Bamond Racing owns the former)
Pole-sitting Mach it So won by a
comfortable three lengths in 1:51.3, chased home by Bettor Rock On N (Brennan)
and McErlean (Kakaley). The 6-year-old Mach Three gelding is closing in on $1.3
million in career earnings. The exacta (two wagering choices) paid
$10.60, with the triple returning $91.50.
P H Supercam, who won this series in 2014,
was a two-move winner here (1:53.1) from outside post No. 7. He beat The Real
One (Pat Lachance) by a length, with 9-10 choice Limelight Beach (Yannick
Gingras) fading to third after cheapy (:28.4, :58, 1:26) intervals.
It was the first win in a couple of
seasonal starts for millionaire P H Supercam, a 9-year-old Million Dollar Cam
gelding. The exacta paid $27.60, with the triple returning $91.
Earlier, Brennan also doubled his
pleasure, with down-the-road favorites Taker it Back Terry ($3.60) in 1:51.2
and Lucan Hanover ($4.50) in 1:51.3.
“Terry,” last season’s series runner-up,
lasted—from post No. 3—by a head over pocket-sitting Texican N (Jordan
Stratton), with Scott Rocks (Brian Sears) a rallying third.
Take it Back Terry, a 7-year-old Western
Terror gelding co-owned (as Burke Racing) by (trainer) Ron Burke, Weaver Bruscemi,
Larry Karr and Phil Collura, won his first race in a couple of ’16 tries. The
exacta paid $11, with the triple returning $29.80.
Lucan Hanover, from post No. 5, won by a
length-and-half, with Doctor Butch (Tetrick) a pocket second. Ideal Cowboy (Bartlett)
a second-up third. As for the ageless Foiled Again (Gingras), the 12-year-old
gelding began yet another season in this series. He pulled first-up from third
down the backside and basically paced an even mile to finish fourth.
Defending series champ Domethatagain
(Dube) was fifth at a long pice from an outside venue.
“Lucan,” a 6-year-old Western Ideal
gelding owned by West Wins Stable owned trainwed by Andrew Harris, is now
3-for-3 to begin his season. The exacta (two wagering choices) paid $11.60,
with the triple returning $34.80.
The evening’s final Levy event was a sharp
win by Bit of a Legend N (Stratton, $5.70), who sat a contented two-hole before
blowing past 3-5 fave All Best Off (Kakaley) in a life-best 1:52.
Second choice “Legend,” from post No. 2,
won by a length-and-a-quarter, with 44-1 outsider Rural Art (Brennan) a
three-hole third and Aslan (Sears) a four-hole fourth. The exacta paid $8.60,
the triple returning $74.50 and the superfecta paid $217.
Bit of a Legend N, a 7-year-old Down Under
son of Bettor’s Delight owned by Harry von Knoblauch and trained by Peter
Tritton, has won three of his five North American starts.
The Raceway’s live schedule resumes with a
“French-centric” Sunday matinee (first post 1:10 PM), featuring the opening
round of the inaugural Drivers’ Cup (races 2 and 4), with five of Yonkers’
leading drivers squaring off against five of their French counterparts.
