Racing Roundup: The Real One wins Saturday 30G winners-over feature at Yonkers
November 15, 2015,by harness publicists across North America
Saturday’s (Nov. 14) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Yonkers Raceway, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Hollywood at Dayton Raceway, Batavia Downs, and Vernon Downs.
Yonkers, NY — The Real One (Pat Lachance, $13) was up on the money Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $30,000 winners-over pacing feature.
Assigned post position seven, The Real One found a seat fourth as Lucan Hanover (Brian Sears) led through early intervals of :26.4 and :55.3.
Down the backside, Pass Them By N (Jeff Gregory) moved from third, escorting The Real One closer. Lucan Hanover continued to lead in and out of a 1:23.2 three-quarters, taking a length-and-a-half lead into the lane.
However, he was about to get leveled from both sides. Pocket-sitting Aslan (Eric Goodell) went inside, while both Pass Them By N and The Real One collared the leader outside. The Real One was able to get the nod over his tow, winning by a neck in 1:51.4. Aslan was third, with Lucan Hanover and Snap to It A (Jordan Stratton) rounding out the payees.
Big N Bad (Eric Carlson), as the 2-1 favorite, was a non-factor sixth.
For fourth choice The Real One, a 5-year-old Mach Three gelding trained by his driver for owner Helene Filion, it was his seventh win in 28 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $63.50, the triple returned $272 and the superfecta paid $1,309.
Note that since no one took down Saturday’s Pick-5, Sunday’s matinee gimmick begins with a carryover of $3,593.49 (50-cent base wager, races seven through 11).
— Frank Drucker
The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono
At post time for the $30,000 Open pace Saturday (Nov. 14) night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, it was one degree above freezing — and the veteran American Ideal gelding Bigtown Hero was one degree better than his opposition, winning by a neck over favored Dynamic Youth in 1:50.2. You can say that Bigtown Hero “won out of the pocket,” but that statement would not fairly convey the work that the winner did. Driver Simon Allard hustled him away from the gate from post seven in the eight horse field, and the pacer was three-wide past the eighth and two-wide until just past the 26.3 opener, when he made the lead, yielding an eighth of a mile later to Dynamic Youth for the two-hole journey. Dynamic Youth took the field to middle splits of 54.4 and 1:22.3, and for a good portion of the stretch it looked like the millionaire pacesetter might prevail. But Allard took his pacer outside, and despite a 10 mph stretch headwind (the wind chill at post time was 23 degrees), Bigtown Hero was able to gain into the 27.4 kicker, with his late surge putting him a head to the good of Dynamic Youth on the money. Trainer/brother Rene Allard conditions the world champion (1:47.3f here last year at age five) for the ownership combine of Allard Racing Inc. and Yves Sarrazin. “The Trot Man” of Pocono Downs, diamond-gaited driving specialist Mike Simons, posted a 21-1 upset in the $24,000 trotting feature with the mare Tweet Me, rallying strongly in the lane after sitting third most of the way to take a new mark of 1:53 despite the chilly conditions. The Andover Hall mare is trained by Nicholas DeVita for owner Bridget McNeese. Pocono now enters the final week of racing for its 2015 racing season, with the trotters and pacers on the track this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights starting at 6:30 p.m.
Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Rock Icon (Rocknroll Hanover) became the sixth different Jose Godinez-trained horse to win the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino and Raceway as the 5-year-old pacer parlayed the pocket ride to victory on Saturday (Nov. 14) night. Starting from post one, Rock Icon (Bruce Aldrich Jr) left aggressively and yielded to rival Meetyouatmidnight (Stephane Bouchard) early on. The race favorite JK Panache (Mark Beckwith) moved first-over but never got to the top pair who drew away late. Rock Icon shook loose in the stretch and got up to prevail in 1:52.3 in the $18,000 Open Pace while Meetyouatmidnight had to settle for second. Longshot Its a Good Thing (Jim Devaux) earned the show spot. Rock Icon returned $17.20 to win. The exacta paid $110 while the triple came back $538. Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.
Hollywood Dayton Raceway
An $11,000 Open Handicap Trot and a $12,000 Open Pace shared the spotlight at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Saturday night (November 14). Winwood Scout (Jeremy Smith) was an upset winner in the trot upsetting favorites Rehab Mountain (Dan Noble) and Cantab Linday (Josh Sutton) in 1:55.1. In just his third local start for owner Howard Jacobs and trainer Sherif Cunmulaj, the 5-year-old Keystone Nordic gelding sat chilly in the pocket behind front-stepping Rehab Mountain throughout fractions of :27, :56.4 and 1:25 before angling out in the lane for his tenth win on the season. The clocking was a new lifetime best for Winwood Scout even though he has won 21 races and $209,413 to date. The feature race victory was one of four on the program for Jeremy Smith, vaulting him into sixth place in the Dayton dash derby. Sports Sinner (Dan Noble) captured the week’s top pace by also conserving energy early, then swinging four-wide off the final turn and picking off adversaries one by one to the wire, reached in 1:51.4. Perkins Racing Stable owns the 4-year-old Western Ideal gelding, who bested fellow closer Doctor Carter (Josh Sutton) and Ice Scraper (Jason Brewer), who dictated the fractions, for his his seventh 2015 score, second in open company. Christi Pokornowski conditions the winner, who now sports $45,000 in seasonal earnings.
Batavia Downs
The weather was clear but Western Alumni made it rain Saturday night (Nov. 14) at Batavia Downs when he went worst-to-first at 12-1 in the field of seven to capture the $10,000 Open pace feature. It was a jailbreak off the gate as Adversary Seelster (Ron Beback Jr.), Jokerman (Jim McNeight) and post time favorite Cobble Beach (Kevin Cummings) went three deep for the first two furlongs, tripping the timer in :26.4. The field settled itself just in time for Western Alumni (Ray Fisher Jr.) to pull from seventh and start his outside trek towards the leader. At the half, Button Fly (Shawn McDonough) pulled out in front of Western Alumni and provided a windshield for him to the top of the lane. From there, Western Alumni tipped three-deep and Fisher proceeded to rock-n-knock to a length victory over a fast-closing Best Ears (Jack Flanigen) in 1:54.3. It was the fifth win of the year for Western Alumni ($26.20), pushing his earnings to $49,986 for 2015. Jerry Nugent Jr. trains the 7-year-old Western Hanover gelding for North Creek Racing LLC. Trainer JD Perrin widened his lead as the top dash-winning trainer of the meet by sending four horses to the winner’s enclosure. Barn stars for the night included Dancin Thea ($8.40), Meadowlandcampbell E ($2.50), Youwillwishyouhad ($2.50) and Veto Hanover ($5.00). Drivers Drew Monti, Kevin Cummings, Jim McNeight and Ray Fisher Jr. all won two races. Live racing at Batavia Downs resumes on Wednesday night (Nov. 18) with post time at 6:15 p.m.
Vernon Downs
Fresh off a six win effort last night, leading driver John MacDonald led all drivers with four victories on Saturday (November 14) night’s 11-race program at Vernon Downs. The Prince Edward Island native kicked off his grand slam in the evening’s featured $7,500 top-level pace, sustaining a first-over bid with Damon Blue Chip ($4.90) to wear down the valiant Golden Gun for a 1:52.3 score. MacDonald also owns and trains the 6-year-old Rocknroll Hanover gelding who, after leveling off at head-stretch, fought back to not only collar pace-setter Golden Gun (Fern Paquet, Jr.), but also stave off a late charge from pocket rival Dodger Hanover (Jimmy Whittemore). MacDonald subsequently teamed up with The Grey Bullet ($9.40, 1:56.1), Fox Valley Cadet ($4.60, 1:56), and Tarport Andy ($2.20, 1:55.2). His closest pursuer in the local standings, Chris Lems, remains 15 wins in arrears despite a driving double of his own. Two programs remain in the 2015 Vernon Downs season: Friday (November 20) and Saturday (November 21) evenings both will see the first race due off at 6:45 p.m. EST.