by Dean A. Hoffman

It’s never happened before in the history of racing. Not in Thoroughbred racing and not in harness racing.

On Saturday night Yonkers Raceway will host two Triple Crown events on one night. These are, of course, the Yonkers Trot and the Messenger Stakes.

“Here we are in just our seventh program on Saturday and we’re hosting not one, but two Triple Crown jewels on the same night,” Yonkers general manager Bob Galterio said. “It’s a first for us and a first for the industry, and we couldn’t be happier.

“We always knew that Yonkers would regain its place as the centerpiece of harness racing,” Galterio continued. “We’re just a bit surprised that it happened on our second weekend.”

The Yonkers Trot, along with the Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity, comprise the Triple Crown for trotters, while the Messenger, along with the Cane Pace and Little Brown Jug, make up the Triple Crown for sidewheelers.

Saturday night at Yonkers will also be noteworthy because Glidemaster is hoping to sweep the Yonkers Trot to add to his earlier victories in the Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity. That would make him only the second Triple Crown winner since Super Bowl in 1972.

Windsong’s Legacy took the Triple Crown in 2004 when the Yonkers Trot was raced over the spacious mile track at Hawthorne Racecourse in Chicago. If Glidemaster can take the Yonkers Trot, he’ll be the first trotter to take the Crown in its original format since 1972.

Scott Frost won the first Yonkers Trot, then called the Yonkers Futurity, in 1955, which was part of his sweep of the first Triple Crown.

It’s ironic that Yonkers Raceway is hosting the Messenger Stakes, because that event was started by Yonkers’ longtime rival, Roosevelt Raceway. The Messenger was first contested in 1956, and was taken that first year by the filly Belle Acton.

The Messenger Stakes was a feature each year at Roosevelt, until the track closed in 1988. Since then it has been contested at various tracks.

There will be no Triple Crown winner among the pacing set this year because Total Truth won the Cane Pace, while Mr Feelgood got home first in the Little Brown Jug. Neither horse is among the six starters in Saturday’s Messenger.

Shark Gesture, recently the winner of the Breeders Crown, heads up the select field in the Messenger Stakes.

While the emphasis is clearly on the Yonkers Trot and Messenger, Galterio drew attention to the supporting card that same night at Yonkers.

“Don’t shortchange the talented fillies going in the Lady Maud and the Hudson Trot either,” he said.