BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, May 28, 2016—It was
as uneventful an eight-hole trip as Missile J (Brian Sears, $2,60, part of
entry) could possibly have wished for Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s
$300,000 Art Rooney Pace.
A week after winning the lone, $40,000
elim for the 26th Rooney, Missile J was blind-drawed behind the
eight-ball in a field of two 3-year-old colts and six geldings.
He was in play early over a track that was
moisturized by a fair amount of pre-card rain. Missile J fell into an open
three-hole behind pole-sitting entrymate Artmagic (George Brennan) and Rodeo
Rock (Dan Dube), who left a bit wide from post position No. 2 to make sure
Missile J couldn’t get around him early.
Artmagic had things his own way over the
“good” surface, getting a :27.3
opening quarter-mile and :56.1 intermission.
The
leader then lost his closest pursuer, as Rodeo Rock gave up the ghost chasing a
:27.2 third quarter (1:23.3). Missile J had taken out of third by then, getting
into second and picking up the scent of the leader.
Artmagic
owned a length-and-a-half lead into the lane, but his night was about to end.
Missile J and a handful of closers rolled by, with Missile J drawing out to win
by 2¼ lengths in 1:53. Second—at 37-1—went to a much-improved Tailgunner
Hanover (Ray Schnittker), with Yankee Artillery (Jordan Stratton), Artmagic and
Manny (Brent Holland) settling for the smaller remainder.
No Shame Blue
Chip (Tyler Buter), Rodeo Rock and a breaking Tap into Power (Jason Bartlett)
completed the order.
For Missile J, an unraced-at-2, $100,000
American Ideal gelding co-owned by Ken Jacobs’ KJ Stables and Wanda
Polisseni’s Purple Haze Stables and trained by Linda Toscano, it was his fifth
(consecutive) win in eight seasonal starts. The exacta paid $51.50, with the
triple returning $194.50.
“Last week was his first (half-mile) start
and he was a bit aggressive,” Sears said. “Tonight, he was more relaxed and the
trip, from an eight-hole, certainly worked out. I was happy with him in the
elimination and happier tonight.”
“He just wasn’t ready (last season),”
Toscano said. “We had to take our time with him, and it’s begun to pay off. The
Rooney was always where we wanted to try him. He has (New York) sire stakes and
open stakes on the schedule, and tonight was a good first step.”
Sears won the Rooney for a fourth time
(Badlands Hanover-2008, Pet Rock-2012, In the Arsenal-2015), matching the
number of one John Campbell.
The race began in 1989, one year after the
death of Art Rooney Sr.
