Tweet Me (Pat Lachance, $26) was the last leader in a contested early fray Sunday morning, then widened in winning Yonkers Raceway’s closing-day $36,800 Preferred Handicap Trot.
In play from post position No. 2 among the 10 going the mile-and-a-quarter, Tweet Me had much to watch at the outset. Summer Indian (George Brennan) left around her, making the lead before second-tier sidekicks Not Afraid (Dan Dube) — the 3-5 choice — and Sumatra (Jordan Stratton) each had their turn in the big chair.
All that happened through intervals of :28.1 and :57.2. After Sumatra briefly had the field at his disposal, Tweet Me took out of fourth. Clementine Dream (Jason Bartlett) tried to chase the lass, but gapped her.
Meanwhile, Tweet Me had all but disposed of Sumatra at the 1:27.1 three-quarters, after which she opened some daylight. With a 1:55.4 milepost, she had four lengths turning for home before winning by a couple in an added-distance 2:25.3. Zooming (Tyler Buter) was able to get into second, with Clementine Dream, Theresademoninme (Eric Carlson) and Not Afraid rounding out the payees.
For fifth choice Tweet Me, a four-year-old Andover Hall miss owned by Bridget McNeese and trained by Nicholas Devita, the win was her seventh in 26 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $117.50, with the triple returning $1,171.
Sunday’s “had to pay Pick 5” proved quite popular, with $28,102 of fresh money chasing a double carryover of $12,601.37. So, after takeout, $33,677 and some change was divvied, with the winning combination (10/1/3/2/5) worth $209.25 for every correct half-a-buck wager.
The Raceway’s 2016 racing is scheduled to begin Thursday, Jan. 7, pending approval of the New York State Gaming Commission.
(Yonkers Raceway)