Saturday night offered any number of entrants for Yonkers Raceway’s upcoming George Morton Levy Memorial Series (nominations close this Wednesday, March 1 — hint, hint), including favoured Soto (Matt Kakaley, $4.50), winner of the featured $50,000 Open Handicap Pace.

In play from post position No. 4, Soto then gave up the baton to Somewhere In L A (Mark MacDonald) just before a moist :26.4 opening quarter-mile. After a 56-second intermission and moving down the backside, First Class Horse (Tyler Buter) took out of fourth. That one towed Guantanamo Bay (Jason Bartlett) while moving into a :27.4 third quarter (1:23.4).

Somewhere In L A owned a length-and-a-half lead into the lane, was good, though not quite good enough. Soto dipped inside, edging past by a neck in 1:52.1 over the sloppy track. Third was a best-of-the-rest Guantanamo Bay, with Roland N Rock (Jordan Stratton) and Caviart Luca (George Brennan) rounding out the payees.

For Delaware-based Soto, a five-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven trained by Eric Ell for co-owners Kenneth Wood, William Dittmar Jr. and Stephen Iaquinta, the win was his fourth in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid $27.40, with the triple returning $147.

In other action, the Ontario-bred Santa Fe Beachboy (Stratton, $24.40) upset Vegas Vacation (Bartlett) in his season's debut, winning the $39,000 Winners Over Pace by a head in 1:53.4 for trainer Richard Banca and the Santa Fe Stable.

(With files from Yonkers Raceway)