BY FRANK DRUCKER,
Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS,
NY, Sunday, November 13, 2016—Favored Hemi Seelster (Jason Bartlett, $4)
finished what he started Sunday morning, winning Yonkers Raceway’s
mile-and-a-quarter, $56,000 Open Handicap Trot.
Away
alertly from post position No. 5 for his 11:25 AM local time audition, Hemi
Seelster had to wait his turn before making the lead.
He
took over from Luminosity (George Brennan) before a :28.2 opening quarter-mile,
then rated a :58.4 next half-mile (:58.1, 1:27.1). Tornado Tim (Dan Dube) was
the first to move—from sixth—flushing Springbank Sam N (Jordan Stratton) out of
fourth.
Hemi
Seelster found a 1:55.4 milepost, taking a length-and-a-half lead into the
lane. He then widened to 3¼ lengths at the wire in 2:24.3…a track record for
his weight class.
Luminosity
crossed the line second, with Tornado Tim third, However, those positions were
flipped after the former slalomed inside any number of pylons. Dot Dot Dot Dash
(Steve Smith) and ‘Sam’ rounded out the payees.
For Hemi Seelster, a 4-year-old Holiday Road
gelding co-owned by Richard Lombardo, Carl Atley & Robert LeBlanc and
trained by Tom Milici, it was his eighth win (fourth consecutive off barn
change) in 20 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $21, with the triple returning
$64.
Sunday also featured the second installment of
the ‘New York, New York Double,’ a joint venture with the New York Racing
Association. The winning combination of 2 (Pretty Enuff-Aqueduct 3rd
race) and 1 (Movement-Yonkers’ 5th race) returned $34.25 for each $1
wager.
The ‘New York, New York Double’ continues each
Yonkers live Sunday through Dec. 18th.
