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Saturday, November 18, 2017

CALL ME QUEEN BE WINS FRIDAY NIGHT 40G DISTAFF DERBY

FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway

YONKERS, NY, Friday, November 17, 2017—Call Me Queen Be (Eric Goodell, $8.20) retook the lead early and grudgingly held it late Friday night (Nov. 17th), winning Yonkers Raceway’s blindly-drawn (by modern technology) $40,000 Filly and Mare Open Pace.

Away second from post potion No. 2, ‘Queen Be’ at first was pocketed to HP Sissy (Dan Dube) then retook before a :27.2 opening quarter-mile.

It was a :56.1 intermission when Regil Elektra (Joe Bongiorno) offered a fruitless, first-up bid from fifth. Meanwhile, Call Me Queen Be maintained her social status in and out of a 1:24.3 three-quarters, taking a length-and-a-half lead into the lane.

She would need just about all of it. Slight 5-2 favorite All About Madi (Brian Sears), who won the draw but sat a loose three-hole, stormed home inside. ‘Madi’s’ memo arrived a tad late as she missed a scant nose in 1:53.3. Mach it a Par (Jason Bartlett) left the cones to snatch third, beaten a half-length. HP Sissy and She’sjustadelight N (Ron Cushing) settled for the pre-turkey leftovers.


For tepid second choice Call Me Queen Be, a 4-year-old millionairess daughter of Somebeachsomewhere co-owned by Let it Ride Stables & Dana Parham and trained by Ross Croghan, it was her fourth win in 19 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $21.40, with the triple returning $63.50.