BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY,
Monday, April 16, 2018—Post positions have been drawn for North America’s two
richest races of the season to date, Yonkers Raceway’s $532,000 final of the
George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series and $373,000 final of the Blue
Chip Matchmaker.
The finales, set
for Saturday night (Apr. 21st), wrap up their respective six-week
sojourns and highlight a 12-race card worth just over $1.3 million. First post
is the usual 6:50 PM.
The events, for
the sport’s leading older pacers of both gender, go ‘ladies first,’ with the
Matchmaker as the ninth race and the levy as race No. 10.
The field for the
10th Matchmaker is…1-Shartin N (Tim Tetrick), 2-Sell a Bit N (Jordan
Stratton), 3-Medusa (Yannick Gingras), 4-Lady Shadow (Jason Bartlett), 5-Motu
Moonbeam N (Brent Holland), 6-Dude’salady (Scott Zeron), 7-Twinkle (Eric
Goodell), 8-Lakeisha Hall (George Brennan).
The 31st
Levy rolled off the autodraw showroom as such…1-Western Fame (Mark MacDonald),
2-Dr. J Hanover (Brett Miller), 3-Keystone Velocity (defending series champ,
Dan Dube), 4-Evenin’ of Pleasure (Joe Bongiorno), 5-Somewhere in L A
(Bartlett), 6-Mach it So (Dave Miller), 7-Bit of a Legend N (2016 series champ,
Stratton), 8-Rockin’ Ron (Gingras).
At first glance,
the intriguing storyline for the Matchmaker is Shartin N. After easily winning
her first three Matchmaker starts—and getting a subsequent week off—she returned
as the 3-10 favorite last Friday night (Apr. 13th), unable to get
out of own way, breaking right before the start and again at the half.
At least the
bridge jumpers stayed dry, since the Raceway eliminated show wagering.
“We couldn’t find anything wrong with her,” trainer Jim King Jr. said this past
weekend. “Regroup and try again.”
The final of the
Levy is flush with inside speed, with the first half of the gate probably just
as comfortable with someone on their backs as someone in back of them.
A pair of
consolations, worth $100,000 (Levy) and $75,000 (Matchmaker), are also included
in the Saturday card.
This story
shall be updated.
