BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Sunday, July 2, 2017—A pair
of second-tier starters decided the issue Sunday afternoon (July 2nd),
with Hemi Seelster (Jason Bartlett, $6.20) edging Rubber Duck (Joe Bongiorno)
in en route to winning Yonkers Raceway’s $68,000 Open Handicap Trot.
Hemi Seelster, as the wagering choice,
employed the sane out-every-step tact that Rubber Duck used a couple of weeks
ago. From post position No. 10, he floated out seventh while Springbank Sam N
(Jordan Stratton) and DW’s NY Yank (George Brennan) took turns leading the
dozen.
The latter rated at cheaply (:28, :58,
1:28, 1:57) while ‘Hemi’ methodically moved up outside. ‘DW’ owned a
half-length lead into the lane, but was about to give way. Hemi Seelster went
by, holding off Rubber Duck—who gapped a bit down the backside—by a head in
2:25.4 for the mile-and-a-quarter distance.
The smaller envelopes went to DW’s NY
Yank, Springbank Sam N and Buen Camino (Trond Smedshammer).
For Hemi
Seelster, a 5-year-old Holiday Road gelding co-owned by Howard Taylor &
Abraham Basen and trained by Rich Banca, it was his fifth win in a 16 seasonal
starts. The exacta paid $66.50, the triple returned $404.50 and the superfecta
paid $4,957.
The latest
installment of the ‘New York, New York Double’ offered a winning combination of
7-Splash of Sass (Belmont’s 3rd race) and 5-Brando’s Muscle Man
(Yonkers’ 7th race) paid $13.20 for every correct $1 wager. Total
pool was $3,681.
A reminder
that live racing returns Friday night (July 7th) at the evening post
time of 7:10 PM
