Antognoni S was the fastest of the round two winners in the MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series on Friday, Dec. 5 at MGM Yonkers Raceway while Take All Comers and Sir Pinocchio doubled up in the event.

In the first of three $69,444 divisions, opening-round victor Ari Ferrari J (Jason Bartlett) fired out from the outside post seven but made a break in the first turn. With Ari Ferrari J no longer in contention, that put Antognoni S and driver Yannick Gingras on the point and they carved out fractions of :28.2, :57.1 and 1:25.4.

Antognoni S gained separation from the rest of the field going to three-quarters and continued to pour it on through a :28.1 final panel en route to a 10-length triumph in 1:54. Dribbling Bi (Daniel Dube) won the race for place ahead of first-over Amigo Volo (George Brennan) and Mississippi Storm (Brent Holland) with Security Protected (Jordan Stratton) rounding out the top five.

Gingras also co-owns the Ron Burke-trained Antognoni S with partners Burke Racing Stable of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Weaver Bruscemi of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and FAC Racing of Scarsdale, New York. Antognoni S, a five-year-old Father Patrick-Bouncing Bax gelding, improved his career summary to 20-5-6 from 42 starts and lifted his bankroll to $538,937, with the majority of his earnings accumulated from 14 wins this year in his first North American campaign.

Antognoni S, who missed by just a head in his opening leg division won by Sir Pinocchio, paid $2.22 to win as the 1-9 favourite here. He led a $9.60 exacta and a $19.80 trifecta.

Take All Comers, the defending champion of this series, showed speed from the outside post seven in the second split and was able to work his way past Cecil Hanover (Yannick Gingras) beyond the :27.2 quarter for driver Todd McCarthy. Take All Comers remained on the engine through middle-half stations of :56.1 and 1:24.4, and his :29.4 final kicker was enough to hold off a first-over Asteroid (Colin Kelly) by half a length in 1:54.3. Southwind Coors (Jason Bartlett), the 1-2 favourite, edged out Keg Stand (Matt Kakaley) for third, with Blackhawk Zette (George Brennan) fifth.

Jim Campbell sent out Take All Comers, a seven-year-old gelded son of Creatine out of Nantab, for owner Runthetable Stables of Montvale, New Jersey. Take All Comers now has 24 wins, 14 seconds and 11 thirds from 78 starts, with earnings topping $1.35 million.

He returned $28.04 to win as a 13-1 offering and keyed a $124.92 exacta and a $262.86 trifecta.

Sir Pinocchio won the final division in 1:54.1 with Jason Bartlett between the wheels. Sir Pinocchio, who put up a track record mile for four-year-old trotting geldings in winning his grouping in the opening round, had command at the :27.4 quarter, :57.1 half and 1:25.3 three-quarters as even-money second choice Periculum (Scott Zeron) made a first-over move out of third as they raced in the backstretch for the final time.

Unfortunately, just as he did two weeks ago, Periculum went off stride on the final bend, which allowed Sir Pinocchio to cruise to a 2-1/2-length decision over pocket-sitter Ultion Face S (Tyler Buter). Khaosan Road (Dube) was next, followed by Benny J (Jim Marohn Jr.) and Escaper (Brent Holland).

Sir Pinocchio is trained by Ed Hart for owner Carolyn Atherton of Scarsdale, New York. The Mets Hall-Lady Cromwell gelding recorded his 20th career victory and has now pocketed more than $1.23 million. 

He paid $3.62 to win as the 4-5 choice. The exacta was worth $12.90 and the trifecta payout was $41.70.

The MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series prelims conclude on Friday, Dec. 12. Points for the series are earned on a 50-25-12-8-5 scale (winner gets 50 points, runner-up gets 25, etc.). The top 10 point earners get a spot in the $250,000 USD 1-1/4-mile final on Friday, Dec. 19, while the next 10 point earners go in the $75,000 USD 1-1/4-mile consolation on the same card. A horse must race in all three legs to be eligible for the final and the consolation for both the MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series and the companion MGM Grand Prix Pacing Series.

MGM Grand Prix Pacing Series action resumes on Monday, Dec. 8 at Yonkers with four $50,000 USD divisions of the third and final preliminary round in races two, four, five and eight. Captain Albano will look to complete a three-for-three run through the series when he lines up from post two in the opening split.

Through the end of the meet on Dec. 19, Yonkers is operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time each night at 6:45 p.m. 

(With files from Yonkers Raceway; photo of Antognoni S winning on Dec. 5)