Desperate Man, the 2021 Horse of the Year in Canada, took the first of four $67,568 flights of the opening leg of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series for older horses and geldings on Monday night, March 18 at MGM Yonkers Raceway. Also taking victories were Rocknroll Runa A, Covered Bridge and Linedrive Hanover.

Driven by Matt Kakaley for trainer Travis Alexander, Desperate Man left from post five and worked his way past Sumomentsomwhere A (Yannick Gingras) for the top spot approaching the :27 opening quarter. Desperate Man was unchallenged from there, which allowed Kakaley to back down the middle-half fractions to :56 and 1:24.2, and a :27.2 final kicker got Desperate Man to the wire a length and a half ahead of Sumomentsomwhere A in a 1:51.4 mile. Venturesome Arden N (Brent Holland) was the third-place finisher.

A six-year-old Shadow Play gelding bred by Winbak Farm, Desperate Man is owned by Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ont. This was his 17th career victory and he has now banked $1,280,785. 

Desperate Man paid $3 to win as the 1-2 favourite. The exacta returned $6.60 and the trifecta paid $32.

In the second test, Rocknroll Runa A, driven by Mark MacDonald, tracked defending MGM Borgata Pacing Series champion Hellabalou (Gingras) from the pocket through fractions of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:24.1. MacDonald tipped Rocknroll Runa A to the outside coming off the final bend, paced by Hellabalou midway through the stretch and held safe over Whats Stanley Got A (George Brennan), who also swung out after a three-hole journey, by a length and a quarter in 1:52.1. Pleaseletmeknow (Kakaley) also got by a fading Hellabalou for third.

Rocknroll Runa A, owned by trainer Larry Stalbaum, is a seven-year-old gelding by Rock N Roll Heaven. He made his 28th trip to the winner's circle and sent his earnings to $387,796.

Rocknroll Runa A returned $13.20 to win as a 5-1 offering. He led a $178 exacta and a $448 trifecta.

Covered Bridge, who was third as the favourite in last year's championship, got the job done in 1:52.3 in the third section in rein to Jordan Stratton. Starting from post five, Covered Bridge pressed on two-wide to get past 2021 MGM Borgata Pacing Series hero This Is The Plan (Gingras) coming off the opening bend and then controlled a sensible tempo of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:24.3. In the lane, Gingras swung This Is The Plan to the outside, and while he did make up some ground, it wasn't enough as Covered Bridge prevailed by half a length. Naturally Gifted A (Todd McCarthy), who tried a first-over attack out of fourth in the final quarter, was up for third.

Trained by Jeff Gillis for owner Mark Ford, Covered Bridge is an eight-year-old gelded son of American Ideal bred by Winbak Farm. He has a record of 48-19-23 from 142 lifetime efforts and has pocketed $1,305,200.

Covered Bridge paid $2.50 to win as the 1-5 choice. He keyed an $11.40 exacta and an $18.40 trifecta.

Linedrive Hanover, with Scott Zeron in the bike, won the fastest Borgata battle of the night after taking the finale in 1:51.2. Idealsomemagic A (Brennan) set a crisp pace of :26.4, :55.2 and 1:23.1, but Zeron wheeled Linedrive Hanover out of the pocket approaching three-quarters and swept past Idealsomemagic A on the last turn. Linedrive Hanover kicked away from the rest of the horses from there, taking a 2-3/4-length decision over Coaches Corner (Jason Bartlett), who was left uncovered when Linedrive Hanover cleared to the top. Dunkin (Tetrick) tracked Coaches Corner and ended up third.

Linda Toscano sent out Linedrive Hanover, a six-year-old Betting Line gelding, for Canadian owners West Wins Stable, McKinlay & Fielding and Mac Nichol. Linedrive Hanover is now a 15-time winner from 36 starts and has now stashed away $624,519.

The 3-5 favourite, Linedrive Hanover returned $3.50 to win while the exacta and trifecta were worth $16.40 and $180.50, respectively.

Preliminary round action in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series continues through Monday, April 15, with the $200,000 USD added final slated to take place on Monday, April 22. This year's MGM Borgata Pacing Series final will also have a "win and you're in" feature for the $125,000 USD Birthday Invitational Pace in May to celebrate 125 years of Yonkers Raceway, the Battle of Lake Erie at MGM Northfield on June 8 and the Aria Invitational at Yonkers, scheduled for Sept. 7.

On Tuesday, March 19, the draw for the second leg of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series will take place. The entry box closes at 3 p.m. (EDT).

The Friday, March 22 program at Yonkers will be headlined by a trio of $40,000 USD splits of the second leg of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series for pacing mares, featuring a showdown between round one winners Lit De Rose and Tonys Mom in the third division. Those fields will line up as follows:

Division 1 (Race 2)

1. Incaseyoudidntknow 
2. Coachellabound N 
3. Avf Claire 
4. Karma Seelster 
5. Treacherous Penny 
6. Intothemysticmoon

Division 2 (Race 4)

1. Jive Dancing A 
2. Delta Three N 
3. Easy To Please 
4. Dougs Babe A 
5. Man Dontforget Me 
6. True Blue Hanover

Division 3 (Race 10)

1. Mikala
2. Lit De Rose
3. Creme Delight 
4. Delitfulcatherin N 
5. Tonys Mom 
6. Sale El Sol

The opening rounds of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series will continue through Friday, April 12 with the $125,000 USD added final on Monday, April 22.

Yonkers is currently operating on a Monday-Friday live racing schedule with post time each night at 7 p.m. (EDT).

(With files from Yonkers Raceway)