by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, The Grand Circuit

This Week: Blue Chip Matchmaker and George Morton Levy series fourth legs, Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, N.Y.

Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit at Yonkers this week features three $40,000 divisions on Friday (April 11) in the fourth round of the Blue Chip Matchmaker series for open pacing mares. The Saturday (April 12) card at Yonkers will see three $50,000 divisions in the fourth round of the George Morton Levy series for open pacers.

Complete entries for the races can be found by clicking on this link.

Last time: The Ron Burke Stable continued to dominate Yonkers Raceway’s George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series this past Saturday night (April 5). Burke trained the winners in all but one of the evening’s four $50,000 divisions.

Leading the Burke brigade once again was Foiled Again, who remained unbeaten in three series starts. He and driver Yannick Gingras went the distance, though not without having to work for it.

Mike Lizzi photo

Foiled Again (#2A) held off P H Supercam by a head in their Levy division last Saturday.

Drawing outside his six rivals, Foiled Again went around pole-sitting P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett) before a :27 opening quarter-mile. From there, the match race was on. After a :55.4 half, these two separated themselves from the overmatched quintet. Foiled Again found three-quarters in 1:24, taking a 1-1/2 length lead into the lane. Then, P H Supercam took his shot. He dove inside and closed ground, but could not reach. Foiled Again prevailed by a head in 1:52. Rock On Moe (Eric Carlson) was a best-of-the-rest third as the 66-1 rank outsider.

For Foiled Again, a 10-year-old Dragon Again gelding, the $25,000 payday increased his lifetime loot to $6,105,968 (79-for-201). Burke co-owns (as Burke Racing) with Weaver Bruscemi and JJK Stables.

Burke’s other Levy winners were Easy Again in 1:53.1 and Bettor’s Edge in 1:52.2. Like Foiled Again, Bettor’s Edge is also a perfect three-for-three in the series and they share the points lead in the Levy with 225 each. Easy Again has a pair of series scores and is in fourth place with 187 points.

Summertime Lea and Yagonnakissmeornot won their respective divisions this past Friday night (April 4) in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series for mares, the second score for each in the series. Yagonnakissmeornot moved into a first place tie in the standings with Angel’s Delight, each with 200 points. Summertime Lea is third at 187 points.

Yagonnakissmeornot, a 5-year-old daughter of The Panderosa co-owned (as Allard Racing) by trainer Rene Allard, Yves Sarazin and Kapildeo Singh, is now five-for-nine this season with career earnings just under $400,000.

For Summertime Lea, a 4-year-old daughter of Lislea co-owned (as Burke Racing) by trainer Ron Burke, Weaver Bruscemi, Frank Baldachino and Earl Smith, it was her second win in three seasonal/series starts.

Complete recaps of the weekend races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2014, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2014 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders following the past weekend at Yonkers:

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 96; 2. George Brennan – 94.5; 3. Tim Tetrick – 58; 4. Daniel Dube – 30; 5. Brian Sears – 29.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 180.5; 2. PJ Fraley – 69; 3. Rene Allard – 30; 4t. Joe Holloway – 20; 4t. Kevin Carr – 20.

Owners: 1. Bamond Racing – 55.5; 2t. Burke Racing – 46.3; 2t. Weaver Bruscemi – 46.3; 4. Brad Grant – 20.5; 5. Joe Pennacchio – 20.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will continue with the final preliminary leg of the Blue Chip Matchmaker and George Morton Levy next weekend. The finals and consolations for both events will be held on April 26.