Slight favourite Bettor N Better (Jason Bartlett, $7.20) lasted — barely — Friday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $45,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.
In play from post position No. 4 (a one-notch improvement after an inside scratch), Bettor N Better was able to get around pole-assigned Set Me Up (George Brennan) before a moist :28.2 opening quarter-mile.
After a rated :57.3 intermission, Hidden Land (Brent Holland) tried it from fourth. That did not go well down the backside and in and out of a 1:25.2 three-quarters. Bettor N Better owned a length-and-a-three-quarter lead off the final turn then held sway, whipping Set Me Up by a nostril in 1:54.2.
Delightful Dragon (Dan Dube) was a three-hole third, with a rallying Empress Deo (Scott Zeron) and Hidden Land settling for the minor moolah.
For Bettor N Better, a now-five-year-old daughter of Bettors Delight owned by Bamond Racing and trained by Jeffrey Bamond Jr., the win was her first in a pair of a seasonal starts. The exacta paid $97, with the triple returning $161.50.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)