Yonkers, NY – Race favorites Howlenthehills and Janelle Granny emerged victorious from the pair of $25,000 MGM Grand Messenger Stakes eliminations for sophomore colt and gelding pacers on Friday night (June 21) at MGM Yonkers Raceway.

Captain Skippy (Dexter Dunn) blasted to the front from the outside post seven in the opening elimination, but then he made a break on the first turn. When Captain Skippy broke, Dunn took him to the outside, but Howlenthehills (Matt Kakaley) was out there, too, and Howlenthehills was forced five-wide to get around him. After moving past the confusion, Howlenthehills advanced quickly and was able to get to the top in front of Bonaparte (Andy McCarthy), who had also been bothered by the breaker, nearing the :28.2 quarter-mile station.

Howlenthehills continued on the point through fractions of :57 seconds to the half and 1:25.1 to three-quarters and got separation from his pursuers on the last turn. In the stretch Armada Hanover (Tim Tetrick) was cut loose three-wide off the dull cover of Escape To America (Jason Bartlett) and finished full of pace to the wire, but Howlenthehills had a big enough jump on Armada Hanover to hold on and get the victory by a head in 1:53.3. Lou’s World (Todd McCarthy) also closed well after angling out off an inside trip and was third and Escape To America also moved on to the final.

A New York-sired gelding by American Ideal, Howlenthehills, a Travis Alexander trainee, was bred by Crawford Farms and is owned by Symmetry Stables LLC. After going winless in eight tries as a 2-year-old, Howlenthehills is six-for-six in 2024 and has pocketed $191,981 lifetime. He paid $3.10 to win as the 1-2 choice and keyed a $13.80 exacta and a $54.50 trifecta.

In the other elimination Bet On Mac (Bartlett), Huntingforchrome (Tyler Buter) and Janelle Granny (Tetrick) were all quick off the gate. Huntingforchrome would press on around Bet On Mac before the 27.1 quarter, then yielded to sit behind Janelle Granny, who raced in the North America Cup final six nights prior, after that marker. Once in control, Janelle Granny clocked the half in 56 seconds, but would be challenged by a first-over Mr Three O Five (Yannick Gingras) on the way to the 1:24.4 three-quarters.

Janelle Granny put the field away at the top of the lane to win one of two MGM Grand Messenger Stakes elims this evening at Yonkers Raceway. Mike Lizzi photo. 

Janelle Granny was able to withstand Mr Three O Five’s bid on the last turn, then got a bit of a gap on the others coming off the bend after putting him away for good. Sweet Beach Life (Kakaley) tracked Mr Sweet O Five from second-over and did kick home strongly after swinging to the outside, he couldn’t reach Janelle Granny, coming up a neck short. Mr Three O Five hung around to get third after getting rebuffed and Wish You Well got third to grab a spot in the final.

Scott Di Domenico trains Janelle Granny, a Fear The Dragon colt bred by Larry Miller, for owner Betty Clegg. Janelle Granny has nine wins, 11 seconds and a third from 25 tries, has earned $302,186 and returned $4.10 to win as the even-money choice. The exacta was worth $16.00 and the trifecta kicked back $34.40.

The finals of the MGM Grand Messenger and MGM Yonkers Trot will take place on Friday, June 28 and will be joined by their companion filly events – the Park MGM for pacers and the New York New York Mile for trotters. Fans attending the races live on June 28 will be treated to an outdoor market on the track apron. An integration of the casino and track worlds will take place as patrons from both sides of the gambling world will be welcomed to enjoy special food stands, live music and other promotional items as part of a Triple Crown Fan Fest.

MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday live schedule with post time each night at 7 p.m. (EDT), but the oval will host a Wednesday program next week on June 26.