BY FRANK DRUCKER,
Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS,
NY, Tuesday, August 9, 2016—It’s a downstate New York Sire Stakes two-fer this
week, with Yonkers Raceway hosting Thursday night’s $164,874 Bruce Hamilton
Pace (3-year-old fillies) and Friday evening’s $150,224 Milt Taylor Trot
(2-year-old colts/geldings).
Since
we’re nothing if not chivalrous, the ladies lead the way with a pair of $82,437
events (races 6 and 7). The opening division finds Angels Rockn Pink (Mark
MacDonald, post 7) enjoying a solid season but obviously getting no help from
the draw.
The
daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven, owned by Crawford Farms and trained Chris
Oakes, by has hit the board in eight of her nine seasonal starts.
Time
on My Hands (Jason Bartlett, post 2) has won half of her of eight seasonal
starts, including a sire stakes event here earlier this summer. That same fun
factoid can also be said of Soft Idea (Scott Zeron, post 4), who goes after a
third ’16 win.
The
second Hamilton group includes American Ivy (Brian Sears, post 5), who gets a
fresh set of hands here. The American Ideal miss has been consistent
enough to go 2-for-9 in each of her racing seasons.
Friday
night froshfest—two divisions (races 6 and 7) at $75,112 each—includes some
lads who’ve begun compiling quite the resume.
The
opening event finds a potent Julie Miller-trained entry in Big Man Ev (Andy
Miller, post 5) and Jealous Man (Sears, post 6). The former, a Chapter Seven
colt, has a pair of NYSS wins (Buffalo, Saratoga), while the latter, a son of
Credit Winner, was a small player in open stakes company who also owns a
Buffalo sire stakes win.
Friday’s
second statebred social is led by Such an Angel (MacDonald, post 1), with three
(NYSS) wins in four tries. Barn Winner (Jeff Gregory, post 2) is 2-for-4 to
begin his career, sire stakes wins at Buffalo and Monti.
Note that since no one took down Tuesday afternoon’s Pick 5, Thursday night’s
gimmick begins with a carryover of $2,133.42 (50-cent base wager, races 7
through 11).
