Favoured Itty Bitty (Jason Bartlett, $4.10) gave nothing else a shot Friday night (January 11), handily winning Yonkers Raceway’s $44,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.
Leaving from post position No. 3, Itty Bitty retook from Wishy Washy Girl (George Brennan) before a :27.4 opening quarter-mile. Shen then opened more nighttime daylight at every subsequent interval (:58.1, 1:26.1, 1:55), as in two lengths (half), 2-1/2 lengths (three-quarters), 4-1/2 lengths (stretch) and 5-1/4 lengths (finish).
Clear Idea (Matt Kakaley) was a best-of-the-rest second, with Dudesalady (Jim Marohn Jr.), Amateur Hour (Brent Holland) and Culinary Delight N (Larry Stalbaum) rounding out the payees.
For Itty Bitty, a now-five-year-old daughter of Always a Virgin co-owned (as A Harris Racing) by trainer Andrew Harris, J. Robert Darrow and Evan Katz, the win was her first in a pair of seasonal starts. The exacta paid $17.20, the triple returned $156.50 and the superfecta paid $582.
Bartlett won half of the evening’s 10 races.
A friendly reminder from Yonkers Raceway that Saturday evening’s Pick 5 wager starts with a carryover of $2,257.15 and a $10,000 guaranteed pool. The guarantee is in conjunction with the U.S. Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program.
The Pick 5 is a 50-cent base wager comprising races six through 10 Saturday night. It has no consolation payoff, meaning if no one selects all five winners (as was the Friday night), the entire pool (minus takeout) moves to the next racing program.
(Yonkers Raceway)