BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, January 21,
2017—Caviart Luca (George Brennan, $28.60) snapped odds-on Blood Brother (Jason
Bartlett) at the wire Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $45,000 Open
Handicap Pace.
‘Twas a night
better suited for Carl Sandburg (fog reference for all you academics out
there), Caviart Luca found himself away from post position No. 3. He sat as 3-4
choice Blood Brother two-moved to the lead before a :27.4 opening quarter-mile.
Things
remained unchanged after a 57-second intermission and 1:25 three-quarters, with
Blood Brother taking a 2½-length lead into the lane.
Despite a
mediocre tow from P H Supercam (Scott Zeron), Caviart Luca was relentless from
second-up. He picked off the pace-setter by a nose in 1:52.2, with P H Supercam,
Roland N Rock (Jordan Stratton) and City Hall (Tyler Buter) settling for the
remainder. E Z Noah (Dan Dube) was outrun.
As an aside,
it was the first time Bartlett did not drive P H Supercam here since September,
2013.
For fifth
choice Caviart Luca, a now-6-year-old Somebeachsonewhere gelding co-owned (as
Burke Racing) by (trainer) Ron Burke, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura, he’s
won both of his seasonal starts. The exacta paid $65.50, with the triple
returning $204.
