Kazio Dk scored a hard-fought 1:55.2 win in the $136,986 John Brennan Trotting Series Final on Wednesday, April 22 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.

Driven by Yannick Gingras, Kazio Dk worked two-wide to get the lead away from Always A Story (Tyler Buter) past the :28.3 quarter and then backed down the half to :58.1. Always A Story then vacated the pylons exiting the third turn and got side-by-side with Kazio Dk at the 1:27 three-quarters.

The battle between Always A Story and Kazio Dk continued around the last turn, and Always A Story had a narrow advantage on the outside as they turned into the lane. But Kazio Dk came back on the inside in the stretch and defeated the game Always A Story by a nose. Top Gun Hanover (Jason Bartlett) was third after he was unable to keep up with Always A Story's cover from second-over.

Gingras co-owns the Ron Burke-trained Kazio Dk, a five-year-old gelding by Muscle Massive-Sasha, with partners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and FAC Racing LLC. Kazio Dk, a recent import from Scandinavia, has a summary of 9-11-4 from 37 career appearances and has banked $232,193. He returned $2.78 to win as the 1-5 choice.

Commodus A ($5.12), a five-year-old gelded son of Father Patrick-American Jewel, rallied from second-over in the lane and got up to capture the $68,493 John Brennan Trotting Series consolation by a half-length in 1:56. Bartlett drove Commodus A, a Group 1 winner in Australia, for trainer Per Engblom and owner Peaceful Acre Farm. Exquisite Taste (Pat Lachance) was second over Halfadozen (Matt Kakaley).

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.

The consolation win kicked off a training triple for Per Engblom, who also won with Wishuponastar Deo ($2.24) and Tonto Returns ($10.48). Engblom leads the Yonkers standings with 70 wins and is second in North America with 131.

Shine A Light ($2.10) remained on his roll as the nine-year-old son of Captaintreacherous-Countryview Miss marched to his seventh straight score. The gelding, sent out by Jared Bako on this occasion after being claimed in three consecutive starts, won by a half-length in 1:54. Jason Bartlett piloted Shine A Light, now a 35-time winner in 177 career starts, to victory in the $20,548 claiming pace for Elite Harness Racing LLC. Cowboy Cargo (Gingras) was second, followed by Take A Closer Look (Matt Kakaley).

In other upcoming stakes action at Yonkers, the final prelims in both the MGM Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series and the MGM Borgata Pacing Series are set, with three $50,000 USD divisions of the McIntyre on Friday and the Borgata on Monday. 

This is the final week that Yonkers is on the Monday-through-Friday live racing schedule for a while as the oval will switch to a Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-through-Saturday slate beginning next week and continuing through the first week in June. Post time will be 6:45 p.m. except Saturday, as those programs will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

(With files from Yonkers Raceway)