BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY,
Saturday, March 16, 2019—Say this much for Dan Dube…he appreciates timing.
Approaching his
latest driving milestone for a while, Dube coordinated it just right, stylishly
winning Saturday night‘s (March 16th) opener of Yonkers Raceway’s
George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
His open-length
romp with favored Western Ace ($4.40) not only served as the 9,000th
win of his career, but threw down the Free-For-All series gauntlet as the
fastest local mile (1:51.1) of the season.
From post position
No. 4 in the first of a half-dozen, $50,000 divisions, Western Ace gave nothing
else a shot through intervals of :27.1,
:56.2 and 1:24.1. The two-length lead off the final turn became 5¾ lengths at
the wire, helped by his fast feet and a scattering behind after a nasty break
by Windsong Leo (George Brennan).
Somewhere in L A avoid the happenstance to end us second,
with Mach it So (Brent Holland), Lyons Steel (Mark MacDonald) and Don Domingo N
(Matt Kakaley) settling for the remainder.
For Western Fame, a 6-year-old son of Western Ideal co-owned
by Go Fast and B&I Stables, Stephen Klunowski & Gilbert Short and
trained by Rene Allard, it was his first win a pair of seasonal starts. The
exacta paid $17.80, the triple returned $110 and the superfecta paid $967.
The Quebec-born
Dube, turning 50 this June, was the main driver of Horse of the Year Gallo Blue
Chip (2000) and Rock N Roll Heaven (2010). His career purse earnings exceed
$119 million.
:”He (Western Fame) was ready for this mile,” Dube said. “I thought he’d race
well. I heard something behind me (field scattering), but I was in front by a
few lengths so I wasn’t worried about it.
“I’m obviously happy to get to this (9,000) number. When I came down from
Canada, I never thought I’d have the success I’ve had.”
