Yonkers, NY — Favorites cleaned up in the third and final leg of the MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series on Friday night (Dec. 12) at MGM Yonkers Raceway as Sir Pinocchio, Antognoni S and Dribbling Bi were victorious in their respective $50,000 divisions.
Sir Pinocchio (Jason Bartlett) will have a chance at a series sweep in next Friday’s final after he captured the first grouping in 1:54.3.
Sir Pinocchio showed speed and overcame the outside post 6 with little difficulty as he cleared Southwind Coors (Yannick Gingras) well before the :28 opening quarter.
From there, Sir Pinocchio continued to show the way to the half in :57.3 and three-quarters in 1:26.1 before he came home in :28.2 to defeat Southwind Coors by 2-1/2 lengths. Blackhawk Zette (Brent Holland) was third, followed by Security Protected (Cory Stratton) and Big Box Hanover (Todd McCarthy).
By Met’s Hall, the 4-year-old gelding Sir Pinocchio is trained by Ed Hart for owner/breeder Carolyn Atherton. This was his 21st career victory, he has now pocketed $936,934 and paid $2.10 to win as the 1-5 choice. The exacta was $3.28 and the trifecta $10.54.
Antognoni S (Gingras) put up fractions of :27.4, :57.3 and 1:26.2 in the next split and went on to tally by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.2. Take All Comers (McCarthy), who was looking to go three-for-three in the prelims, had to settle for second from the pocket, and Asteroid (Colin Kelly) was third. Escaper (Jim Marohn Jr.) and Ari Ferrari J (Bartlett) completed the top five.
Gingras also co-owns the Ron Burke-trained Antognoni S with partners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and FAC Racing. Antognoni S, a 5-year-old Father Patrick gelding bred by Pellpac AB, has a summary of 21-5-6 from 43 starts, has earned $417,861, and returned $2.36 to win as the 1-9 favorite. He led a $4.64 exacta and a $15.50 trifecta.
Dribbling Bi (Bartlett) picked up his initial triumph in the series in 1:55 in the final flight. Away second, Bartlett tipped him off the pylons before the :28.2 quarter and wrestled command away from Cecil Hanover (Gingras) beyond that marker. Dribbling Bi remained in command through middle-half panels of :58 and 1:26.1, then held off a gaining Cecil Hanover through the lane and to the wire, scoring by a neck. Hot Flash Kimmy (Stratton) was third from Dire Straits (Matt Kakaley) and Khaosan Road (Daniel Dubé).
Ron Coyne Jr. trains Dribbling Bi, a 6-year-old gelded son of Cantab Hall, for owner Windermere Stables. Bred by M Biasuzzi Stable, Dribbling Bi has 25 victories, 28 seconds and 20 thirds from 140 efforts; has banked $424,782; and paid $4.42 to win as the 6-5 favorite. He was atop a $9.02 exacta and a $53.60 trifecta.
Unofficially, the 10 horses that advanced to next Friday’s (December 19) $250,000 MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series final are:
Sir Pinocchio (150 points)
Take All Comers (125)
Antognoni S (125)
Dribbling Bi (75)
Southwind Coors (62)
Asteroid (62)
Ari Ferrari J (55)
Ultion Face S (37)
Cecil Hanover (37)
Blackhawk Zette (25)
Points for the series were earned on a 50-25-12-8-5 scale (winner gets 50 points, runner-up gets 25, etc.), and a horse had to race in all three legs to be eligible for the final or the $75,000 consolation, which will also take place on that Dec. 19 program. These same conditions applied to the companion MGM Grand Prix Pacing Series.
With the conclusion of tonight’s card, MGM Yonkers Raceway will begin the final week of its 2025 meet on Monday (Dec. 15). Post time Monday through Thursday is at 6:45 p.m. (EST), while Friday’s (Dec. 19) program will kick off at 2:15 p.m. (EST).