BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Saturday, August 17, 2019—Due
to a quirk in the schedule—no racing the previous evening—Yonkers Raceway
Saturday night (Aug. 17th) offered three—count ‘em, three--$46,000
featured events.
The week’s marquee trot was blindly drawn
and worked to the advantage of pole-sitting, odds-on Eye ofa Tiger AS (Jason
Bartlett, $3).
Retaking from There’sademoninme (Eric
Goodell) right after a :27.4 opening quarter-mile, Eye ofa Tiger AS knocked off
his appointed rounds (:57, 1:24.4,
life-best 1:53.4). He (Austin Siegelman), whipped his pocketed pursuer by a
length, with Lord Cromwell (Austin Siegelman), In Secret (George Brennan) and
Such an Angel (Jim Marohn Jr.) rounding out the payees.
For Eye ofa Tiger AS, a 5-year-old
statebred Chapter Seven gelding co-owned by ACL Stuteri AB & Kjell
Johansson and trained by Anette Lorentzon, it was his eighth win in 22 seasonal
starts. The exacta paid $12, the triple returned $113 and the superfecta paid
$376.50.
Saturday night’s Open Handicap Pace and
Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace were both laid out in the same way…inside
number assigned, outside seven numbers drawn.
Betterb Chevron N (Jordan Stratton,
$14) closed from last at the three-quarters and seventh off the final turn to
snap 11-10 fave Miss You N (Bartlett) in the week’s distaff derby. From post
position No. 7, the margin was a nose in 1:52. Dibaba N (Goodell) was
third, with Annabeth (Siegelman) and D G’s Elsa (Joe Bongiorno) settled for the
remainder.
Gold Orchid N (Dan Dube) led through
intervals of :27., 56 and
1:23.3 before fading to seventh.
For third choice Betterb Chevron N, a
6-year-old Down Under daughter of Bettor’s Delight owned by William Hartt and
trained by Lance Hudson, it was her seventh win in 19 ’19 tries. The exacta
paid $46.80, the triple returned $121 and the superfecta paid $785.
Last, but certainly not least, was a 51st
career win by favored The Real One (Pat Lachance, $4.10). The Raceway’s
co-track-record-holder (1:50) was not required to go that fast in the Open ‘Cap
Pace, but 1:52.2 was sufficiently fast to take down Shneonucrzydiamnd A (Brent
Holland) by a neck.
The latter led through subsections of :27.2; :56.3 and 1:24.3, with The
Real One—away fourth from post No. 5—grinding by first-over. The minors went to
Control Tower (Siegelman), Dr. J Hanover (Marohn Jr.) and Perfectly Close
(Stratton).
For The Real One, a 9-year-old Mach Three
gelding trained by his chauffeur for owner Helene Filion, he’s now 4-for-14
this season (career $1,160,488). The exacta (two wagering choices) paid $11.80,
the triple returned $63 and the superfecta paid $214.
Also Saturday, a season-high, fourth-race
superfecta paid $109,674 (base $2 payout, 10-cent ticket worth $5,483.70). The
combination was 7-1-8-5, with The Lunch Pail (Holland) winning at a $79 mutuel.
He was chased home by rivals at 20-1, 80-1 and 3-2, respectively.
