BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, March 26,
2016—Yonkers Raceway’s Saturday night brought with it the second round of the
George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
Five, $50,000 divisions featured all six
opening-leg winners, and half of those repeated.
George Brennan had an embarrassment of
riches, winning again with a pocket-ripping Take it Back Terry ($2.50) in a night’s-fastest
1:51.1 and a down-the-road Lucan Hanover ($3.50) in 1:52. The pair bookended
the divisions in inverse order.
“Terry,” last season’s series runner-up,
drew the pylons and sat a chilly two-hole behind Ideal Cowboy (Jason Bartlett).
The Cowboy led through intervals of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:24, taking a
length-and-a-half lead into the lane.
“Terry,” meanwhile, was all dressed up. He
roared out of the pocket, winning by 2½ lengths. Ideal Cowboy saved second over
49-1 Dream Out Loud N (Yannick Gingras), with Doctor Butch (Tim Tetrick)
fourth.
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 second race in three seasonal
starts.. The exacta (two wagering favorites) paid $6.90, the triple returned
$39.40 and the superfecta paid $127.
Lucan Hanover, from post No. 6, won by
neck (:27.3, :57, 1:24.4), with Texican N (Jordan Stratton) a pocket second. Te
Kawau N (Dan Dube) was a three-hole in his North American purse debut,
“Lucan,” a 6-year-old Western Ideal
gelding owned by West Wins Stable owned trained by Andrew Harris, is now
4-for-4 to begin his season. The exacta (two wagering choices) paid $8.60, with
the triple returning $34.20.
Bit of a Legend N (Stratton, $2.80), from
post No. 4, also doubled-up in the series, easily winning the third division
(:28.3, :57.3, 1:25.4, 1:53).
Evenin of Pleasure (Dube) was
second—beaten a length-and-a-half—in a two-speed number, with Western Rockstar
A (Gingras) a first-up third and Santa Fe Beachboy (Bartlett) fourth.
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 four of his five North American starts. The exacta paid
$25.40, the triple returned $228.50 and the superfecta paid $611.
“Best horse I’ve ever driven,” Stratton
said.
Last season’s series champion,
Domethatagain (Dube, $4.10), won Saturday night’s fourth event by skimming the
cones. The pole-sitting people’s choice was content to sat a three-hole behind
longshot Sunfire Blue Chip (Mark MacDonald) and Scott Rocks (Brian Sears).
“Sunfire” led through intervals of :27,
:55.4 and 1:23.3, taking a length-and-a-three-quarter in and out of the final
turn. He hit the wall late, however, as Domethatagain was a deep-closing winner
in 1:51.4. Bettor Rock On N (Brennan) was second, with Scott Rocks third.
Sunfire Blue Chip faded to fourth.
Domethatagain, a 7-year-old son of
Bettor’s Delight co-owned (as Allard Racing) by (trainer) Rene Allard, Bob
Hamather and Bruce Soulsby, is now 2-for-4 this season, The exacta paid $31.60,
with the triple returning $86.50.`
The evening’s lone non-chalky series
result saw Melmerby Brach (MacDonald, $27) pick off 4-5 choice Foiled Again
(Gingras) by a second-division, first-up neck in 1:51.3. Away third from post
No. 2, Melmerby Beach moved into soft sub-sections (:28.1, :56.4, 1:24.2).
Despite that, Foiled Again could not close
the sale, as a determined Melmerby Beach snapped him on the money. Texas Terror
N (Kakaley), last week’s $100 winner, was third here…at 3-1.
Fifth choice Melmerby Beach, a 6-year-old
son of Somebeachsomewhere owned and trained by Ettore Annunziata, won his first
race in eight ’16 starts. The exacta paid $90, with the triple returning
$291.
“I’ve driven him before, and he’d raced
better than what his lines showed,” MacDonald said. “To get by Foiled Again,
even now, takes a good horse, and (Melmerby Beach) raced very well.”
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