BY FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers
Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Sunday, January 29,
2017—Springbank Sam N (Jordan Stratton, $8.10) put in a solid, two-move effort
Sunday afternoon, winning Yonkers Raceway’s mile-and-a-quarter, $56,000 Open
Trot.
One of a handful of leavers—from
post position No. 4 (in one notch after a defection)—Springbank Sam N wound up
in a three-hole at the :29.1 opening quarter-mile. It was the returning Il Mago
(Matt Kakaley) leading there, as well as at the :58.4 half and 1:28.1
three-quarters.
‘Sam’ then took out after the
leader, engaging at the 1:57 milepost. The two were essentially inseparable in
and out of the final turn before Springbank Sam N put that rival away. He edged
clear, whipping Allerage Star (Andy Miller) by a length in an added-distance
2:27.1.
Tweet Me (Pat Lachance) was a
rallying third, with Newcastle (Dan Dube) and 8-5 choice Red Hot Herbie (Jason
Bartlett) settled for the smaller change. Il Mago faded to ninth and last,
though first-to-last in the entire field was just 3¾ lengths.
For second choice Springbank Sam N, a 10-year-old Down Under
Sondon gelding owned Harry von Knoblauch and trained by Augie Abbatiello, it
was his first win in three seasonal starts. The exacta paid $72, with the
triple returning $473.
This week’s installment of the “New York, New York Double’
offered a 1A-Do Share (Aqueduct’s 3rd race) and 1-Warrawee Preferred
(Yonkers’ 6th race) ‘snake eyes’ winning combination, which returned
$14.30 for every correct dollar wager. Total pool was $5,136.
