Yonkers, NY — With the MGM Borgata Series and Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, both for pacers, underway, the trotting set will join the action at MGM Yonkers Raceway on Wednesday night (April 5) with six $25,000 divisions of the opening round of the John Brennan Series.

The John Brennan Trotting Series is named in honor of the longtime Standardbred Owners Association of New York horsemen’s representative who passed away from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020. The series is for 3-year-olds and older who were non-winners of six pari-mutuel races or $150,000 through Feb. 1, 2023, with winners over $250,000 as of that date not eligible. The series features three preliminary legs on April 5, 12 and 19 with a $79,000 final and a $35,000 consolation April 26.

A total of 48 horses were nominated to the John Brennan Trotting Series, which is the most in the history of the event, and 41 of those nominees showed up in the entry box for the first leg, when it closed on Thursday (March 30).

“I am very excited to see it take off like this in Big John’s memory. It is such a great thing,” said Yonkers racing secretary Joe Frasure.

Among the storylines looming on Wednesday are Cantstop Yankee (post six, Tyler Buter), who is three-for-three in 2023, taking on the five-for-six Summit City Sonny (post two, Dexter Dunn) and Spicy Nugget (post five, Yannick Gingras) in the first split; the Yonkers debut of Irish champion Harry Knows IR (post six, Lauren Tritton) in the second tilt; and two sharp horses in Southwind Arturo (post three, Buter) and Outside The Fire (post four, Scott Zeron) meeting up in the fourth section.

Twelve races will take place in total on Wednesday night, with John Brennan Trotting Series action in races one, two, four, six, eight and 10.

Stakes racing continues at Yonkers on Friday night’s (March 31) 10-race program with three $40,000 third-leg sections (races three, six and eight) of the Matchmaker, for pacing mares. The second of those events features Amazing Dream N, the only two-time winner in the series in 2023, Racine Bell, who went over $1 million in career earnings with a victory a week ago, and defending champion Drama Act.

The Borgata Series resumes with its third round on Monday, April 3. Four $50,000 divisions (races three, five, seven and nine) will take place on that 12-race card.

To complement the Borgata Series, the Empire Terrace dining room will be open 6-10 p.m. on Mondays through April 24. Owners and fans are invited to attend the races and enjoy food from an a la carte menu. No reservations are required.

Starting tonight (March 30), the Pick-5 pool at Yonkers will be seeded with $10,000 and also have a guaranteed pool of $25,000. This initiative will continue on Thursdays into April and is being offered in partnership with the Standardbred Owners Association of New York as part of the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. Yonkers is currently operating on a Monday-through-Friday live racing schedule with post time at 7 p.m. (EDT).