by Frank Drucker, publicity director, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway

Yonkers, NY — Pole-assigned Dune In Red (Tyler Buter, $16.80) held off the cavalry Friday night (April 24), winning Yonkers Raceway’s featured $31,000 Filly and Mare Preferred Handicap Pace.

After seeing Fanticipation (Mark MacDonald) grab the first glory, Dune In Red edged from the pocket. That one made the lead just at a :27.3 opening quarter-mile, then rated a :57.3 intermission.

Sean Hamrock photo

Dune In Red (#1) was a narrow winner on Friday.

Sweetnsinful (Jason Bartlett) then moved from fourth as the 3-2 favorite, prompting the pace through a brisk :27.4 third quarter (1:25.2). Delightful Dragon (Brian Sears) tried to match strides with Sweetnsinful, but found herself gapping down the backside.

It was Dune In Red widening to 2-1/4 lengths in and out of the final turn. She would need just about all that margin in a very slow (:29.2) final quarter, before lasting by a neck in 1:54.4. RD IOU (Jordan Stratton) and Fanticipation wound up in a dead-heat for second, with a late-arriving Delightful Dragon and Sweetninsful rounding out the payees. The first five finishers were separated by 1-1/4 lengths.

For fifth choice Dune In Red, a 5-year-old daughter of Duneside Perch owned by Hero Stables and trained by Chris Marino, it was her first win four seasonal starts. The exactas paid $30.40 (with RD IOU second) and $160 (with Fanticipation second), with the triples returning $287.50 (RD IOU second) and $448 (Fancipation second).

The Raceway’s live season continues Saturday night (post time 7:10 p.m.), with the sport’s two richest races of the season to date — finals of the Blue Chip Matchmaker (purse $261,000) and George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series (purse $529,000)– highlighting a $1.2 million purse card.

After that, it’s Monday (7:10 p.m.), Tuesday (1 p.m., $66,500 final of YR/SOA of NY Bonus Trotting Series), then Thursday through Saturday (all at 7:10 p.m.). Note Sunday matinees are done until November. Evening simulcasting accompanies all night programs, with afternoon simulcasting available daily.