Sapphire City wires field in Yonkers Open
December 21, 2013,by Frank Drucker, publicity director, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers, NY — Last laurels of the season went to Sapphire City (Eric Carlson) on Saturday night (Dec. 21) as he won Yonkers Raceway’s $37,000 Open Pace.
![](http://ustrottingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/57158-SapphireCity12-21-13lizzi.jpg)
Mike Lizzi photo
Sapphire City was a 1:51.3 winner in the Open Pace.
In the fray early from post position three, Sapphire City, along with Dream Out Loud N (Matt Kakaley) and Dallenbach Hanover (Larry Stalbaum), led the legions.
They were 1-2-3 through early intervals of :27 and :55.2. Escape The News (George Brennan), as the 9-5 favorite, moved from fifth, but offered nothing toward a 1:23.1 three-quarters.
Meanwhile, Sapphire City owned a 1-1/2 length lead into the lane, then held sway. He defeated the other leavers, Dream Out Loud N and Dallenbach Hanover, in 1:51.3. The margin over the former was a half-length, with Dallenbach Hanover, P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett) and Pan From Nantucket (Eric Goodell) settling for the remainder.
Sapphire City, a 5-year-old Metropolitan gelding trained by Paul Blumenfeld for co-owners Centaur Stables and Jordan Sklut, returned $6.30 (second choice) for his eighth win in 36 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $38.80, with the triple returning $555.
The Raceway’s 2014 live schedule begins Monday (Jan 6), pending New York State Gaming Commission approval.