BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY,
Saturday, January 18, 2020—Favored Swansea (Austin Siegelman, $4.30) was left
to his own devices Saturday night (Jan 18th), easily winning Yonkers
Raceway’s ‘sloppy’ $40,000 Open Handicap Trot.
From assigned post
position No. 5, Swansea found himself as the only leaver. With no issues, he
worked around pole-sitting Mostinterestingman (George Brennan) before a :28.4
opening quarter-mile. From there, a :58.4 intermission before sharp interloper
Now’s the Moment (Jason Bartlett) moved from third.
The invader was
quite good this night, but Swansea had too many things (cheap lead, comfy
teletimer) working to his advantage. After a 1:27.2 three-quarters, he had two
lengths in and out of the final turn.
Swansea closed the
sale, handily widening to 3½ lengths in 1:56.3. Now’s the Moment served notice
holding second, with Yes (Brent Holland), Lean Hanover (Jim Marohn Jr.) and
Will Take Charge (Jordan Stratton) settling for the small change after never
factoring. Mostinterestingman backpedaled to sixth.
For Swansea, a now-5-year-old Swan for All gelding co-owned
by Triple D Stables & Dana Parham and trained by Scott DiDomenico, it was
his first win in a pair of seasonal starts (career 21-for-47). The exacta paid
$28, with the triple returning $78.50.
Special Saturday props to season-debuting Ostro Hanover (Dan
Dube, $8.70), wiring his foes in the $35,000 Preferred Handicap Pace (1:54).
Also, the venerable 11-year-old gelding Melady’s Monet (Brennan, $3) made it
62-for-203 with his 1:55.2 win in the $27,000, second-race trot.
