The departure of one horse from the 2016 International Trot at Yonkers Raceway has been filled by one of North America's best this season.
On Tuesday morning, officials with Yonkers announced that Italian trotter Ringostarr Treb would not be able to compete due to sickness. That opening will reportedly be filled by Obrigado, who only trails Hannelore Hanover and Resolve for earnings among older trotters this season.
Trained by co-owner Paul Kelley for Stable 45 and SRF Stable of Florida and Linwood Higgins of Maine, Obrigado added the Dayton Derby to his list of seasons stakes conquests last Friday that include the Maxie Lee, Charlie Hill, Cleveland Classic and Crawford Farms Trot.
The victory in the Dayton Trotting Derby was Obrigado 's 40th lifetime and pushed his lifetime bankroll over $1.36 million.
The updated field of 10 world-class invitees/acceptances for the million-dollar event, set for Saturday afternoon, Oct. 15, stands as follows, with country of representation listed below.
BBS Sugarlight – Norway
Explosive De Vie – Sweden
Flanagan Memory – Canada
Hannelore Hanover – USA (mare)
Jonesy – Finland
Oasis Bi – Italy
Obrigado - USA
On Track Piraten – Sweden
Resolve – USA
Tano Bork – Denmark
Three of the entrants –- BBS Sugarlight (fourth), On Track Piraten (seventh) and Oasis Bi (fifth) competed in this race a season ago. Last season’s winner, Norway’s Papagayo E, is injured and unable to defend his title.
The international horses are scheduled to arrive in New York today (Oct. 5), and after a couple of days of quarantine, get Raceway-situated Friday (Oct. 7).