It’s good to be Jordan Stratton
April 21, 2016,by Frank Drucker, Publicity Director, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers, NY — We’re not condoning identity theft, but c’mon, which one of the other 4,247 currently-licensed United States harness drivers wouldn’t change places with Jordan Stratton this Saturday night?
That’s because Stratton has better than legitimate shots to win both of Yonkers Raceway’s series finals, the $609,000 George Morton Levy Memorial and $309,800 Blue Chip Matchmaker. These are the sport’s two richest races of the season to date.
Mike Lizzi photo
Jordan Stratton will drive Sell A Bit N and Bit Of A Legend N on Saturday at Yonkers.
Since we believe in ladies first, let’s begin with the seventh race (approximate post time 9:10 p.m.) and Sell A Bit N in the Matchmaker. The 6-year-old Down Under daughter of Julius Caesar wears head No. 4 and leaves from post position No. 3.
After winning legs two and three of the five-week trial period, Sell A Bit N found herself trapped in “no woman’s land” the last two weeks, shuffled behind the tired and the stopping before finishing third and second, respectively.
“The best thing about her is I can’t hurt her feelings,” Stratton said. “She’s shown more gate speed than we anticipated and she can also take air. It doesn’t seem to faze her. With the draw, I’m expecting we’re near the front Saturday.”
The 28-year-old Stratton, who won the inaugural Matchmaker in 2009 with Pancleefandarpels, tries for his first Levy (ninth race, approximate post 9:50 p.m.) with another Kiwi expatriate, Bit Of A Legend N.
Both of Stratton’s charges are owned by Harry von Knoblauch and trained by Aussie Peter Tritton.
Bit Of A Legend N, a 7-year-old Down Under son of Bettor’s Delight completed a perfect (5-for-5) prelim performance, wrapped by a scintillating dead-heat with reigning Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit.
“He paced right through the wire,” Stratton said of the two-time (ages 2 and 3) Australian Breeders Crown winner.
How consistent has Bit Of A Legend N been? He’s danced the last three dances in exactly 1:51.2. For the season, it’s seven wins and a pair of seconds in nine starts ($146,750). In the final, he wears head number two and leaves from that same venue.
“The best horse I’ve ever driven. He’s on the small side, which helps here (Yonkers) and he has a good mouth, which helps make him very handy.
“Even though he raced every week in the series, he wasn’t used all that hard. He obviously drew well, but I’ve found the worst thing is to have a game plan before the gate opens, since they never seem to work out.”
Asked if he thought about what winning one or both of Saturday’s races might do for his career, Stratton was quite level-headed.
“I’ve learned in this business, it’s possible to go from the top to the bottom very fast,” he said. “I just try to do the best job I can.”
First post for Saturday’s 13-race, $1.3 million card is 7:10 p.m.
- Posts drawn for finals of Matchmaker, Levy (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)
Post positions have been drawn for Yonkers Raceway’s Saturday night (April 23) series finals, the $309,800 Blue Chip Matchmaker and $609,000 George Morton Levy Memorial.
- Grand Circuit features Levy and Matchmaker finals (Wednesday, April 20, 2016)
The Grand Circuit at Yonkers this week features the $609,000 final and the $100,000 consolation of the George Morton Levy series for open pacers, as well as the $309,800 final and $75,000 consolation in the Blue Chip Matchmaker series for open pacing mares.
- Tritton pupil looks to add to his ‘Legend’ in Levy final (Wednesday, April 20, 2016)
Bit Of A Legend was already a bit of a star before arriving in the U.S., but the New Zealand-born pacer has been adding to his legend this year with his performances in the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series at Yonkers Raceway. A 7-year-old stallion, Bit Of A Legend went 5-for-5 in the preliminary rounds of the six-week Levy Series, which concludes Saturday with a $609,000 final at Yonkers.
- ‘Overlooked’ Krispy Apple aims for Matchmaker title (Thursday, April 21, 2016)
It is a darn good thing horses do not read the papers or browse the Internet, otherwise Krispy Apple may have developed a huge complex. She has earned more than $1.6 million in her career, amassed $60,000 from this year’s campaign alone and established a track standard of 1:51 for older mares in 2015 at Yonkers Raceway, yet the 8-year-old mare never receives the press other female residents of her shed row continuously attract.