Ma Isabelle and Kazio Dk took the $41,667 second-round divisions of the John Brennan Trotting Series on Wednesday, April 8 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.

In the first split, inside starters Pierre In Paris (Yannick Gingras) and Green Mel (Jordan Stratton) broke stride early and were relegated to the back. Commodus A (Jason Bartlett) put up fractions of :30, :59.2 and 1:27.3 while Ma Isabelle (Pat Lachance) followed in the pocket and opening-leg victor Always A Story (Tyler Buter) waited in third until being sent two-wide before three-quarters. Commodus A dug in gamely on the lead, but Ma Isabelle and Always A Story both closed in on him in the stretch. At the finish, Ma Isabelle got up to beat Commodus A by a nose in a 1:56.2 mile. Always A Story was third.

Lachance trains the victorious five-year-old daughter of Alarm Detector-Fiery Manes for owner-breeders Tom and Elizabeth Rankin of St. Catharines, Ont. Ma Isabelle has 10 wins, 14 seconds and 11 thirds from 66 starts and has earned $247,660. She paid $61.90 to win as a 29-1 shot.

In the second section, Kazio Dk (Gingras) wound up with the lead after Diplomacy (Bartlett) went off-stride on the first turn. After he cut the quarter in :29.3, the half in :58.2 and the three-quarters in 1:28.2, Kazio Dk trotted home in :28.4 to defeat pocket-sitter Exquisite Taste (Lachance) by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:57.1. Velociraptor (Colin Kelly) was the third-place finisher.

Gingras of Allentown, N.J. co-owns the Ron Burke-trained Kazio Dk, a five-year-old Muscle Massive-Sasha gelding, with partners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pa., Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pa. and FAC Racing LLC of Scarsdale, N.J. Kazio Dk, who was making his third start in North America since shipping in from Sweden, has a summary of 7-11-4 from 35 appearances and has banked $142,867. He returned $6.76 to win as the 2-1 second choice.

This year's John Brennan Trotting Series has one more prelim on April 15 prior to the $100,000 USD (guaranteed) final and $50,000 USD (guaranteed) consolation on April 22. After being contested at the distance of 1-1/4 miles in 2025, the final and consolation will go back to the standard mile distance this year. The John Brennan Trotting Series is named in honour of the longtime Standardbred Owners Association of New York horsemen's representative who passed away from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020.

Stakes action continues at Yonkers on Friday and Monday with the third leg of the MGM Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series and MGM Borgata Pacing Series, respectively. The McIntyre has four $50,000 USD splits, while the Borgata has a trio of $50,000 USD divisions.

(Yonkers Raceway; photo of Ma Isabelle winning on April 8)