One More Laugh wins Open Handicap Pace at Yonkers

Yonkers, NY — Double-millionaire One More Laugh (Eric Goodell) two-moved and prevailed Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $44,000 Open Handicap Pace.

Justin Grasso photo

One More Laugh scored in a time of 1:52 on Saturday.

Leaving from post position No. 5 as the 6-5 favorite, One More Laugh made the lead before a :26.4 opening quarter-mile. He yielded to Rock To Glory (Daniel Dube) in the second turn, retook, then found a :54.4 half.

Code Word (Jason Bartlett) edged from third, though making minimal impact at the 1:23 three-quarters, With Rock To Glory retreating in the pocket, the leader had two lengths turning for home.

He went on to win by a diminishing half-length in 1:52. Second went to Blatantly Good (Mark MacDonald), with Nob Hill High (Jordan Stratton) skimming the cones for third. Unfortunately, he skimmed them a bit too closely (as in went inside a few) and was set down to fifth for his transgression. That moved Code Word and Four Trumps A (Larry Stalbaum) each up one notch.

One More Laugh, a 5-year-old McArdle gelding trained by Ray Schnittker for co-owners himself, Creative Racing and J & T Silva Stables, returned $4.40 for his fourth win in 21 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $29.60, with the triple returning $113.

— Frank Drucker

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
The Saturday night feature at Saratoga was the $14,980 Open-2 and Fall Bliss emerged victorious after a contentious stretch drive among a half dozen horses. The Scott Blackler trainee Fall Bliss (Blissfull Hall) sat the pocket in the race but as the frontrunner started to tire turning for home, reinsman Jim Devaux evacuated the pocket to move three wide. The risky move was successful as the 4-year-old pacer got up in time in a mile clocked in 1:53.1. The race’s favorite, Show Me Up (Billy Dobson), worked hard in the outer flow for second while Pan Grad (Wally Hennessey) closed for third. For Fall Bliss, it was the sixth win of the season.

Batavia Downs
RC Cruiser was in cruise control for most of the mile but had just enough left in the tank at the wire to hold off a hard-charging Unicorn Hanover and capture the $9,000 Open Pace at Batavia Downs Saturday night in a season-tying best time of 1:53.3. After Mark It On Ice took the lead briefly at the start, driver Jim McNeight and RC Cruiser took over again at the quarter pole and posted fractions of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:25.1 over the fast track on the balmy night. It looked like RC Cruiser ($4.30) was in command halfway down the stretch, holding what seemed to be a comfortable lead. That lead dwindled away quickly as Unicorn Hanover (Robert Verney) gobbled up ground late but came up just a head short at the wire, having to settle for the place position. Mark It On Ice (Anthony Morgan) took third. It was the fifth victory of the season for the 7-year-old gelding and second win in his last three starts in the Open. RC Cruiser is owned by Franklin Meier and trained by Jerry Nugent, Jr. The win pushed his seasonal earnings to $49,888. Veteran reinsman Anthony Morgan had a driving four-bagger while Jack Flanigen notched a driving hat trick.