Favoured Dibaba N gave nothing else a shot Friday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s brisk $42,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.
It was a two-speed, two-wagering-choices number, with Dibaba N—from assigned post position No. 5—working around pole-sitter Itty Bitty (Dan Dube) before a :27.3 opening quarter-mile.
There wasn’t much to it from there as Dibaba N and Eric Goodell found a :57.2 intermission. Down the backside and moving toward a 1:25.3 three-quarters, Clear Idea (Joe Bongiorno) gapped out of a three-hole, while Shellie De Vie (Greg Merton) tired after a weak, first-over bid.
Dibaba N and Itty Bitty had the stretch to the themselves, with the former opening a couple of lengths in and out of the final turn. Dibaba N prevailed by a length-and-a-half 1:52.4
Third—beaten more than eight lengths—was Kaitlyn N (Jason Bartlett), with Write Me A Song (George Brennan) and Clear Idea settling for the small envelopes.
For Dibaba N, a five-year-old Down Under daughter of Shadow Play owned by Blindswitch Racing, J&T Silva, VIP Internet & Robert Cooper Stables and trained by Jose Godinez, it was her eighth win in 23 seasonal starts. She paid $4.30 to win.
(Yonkers)