After being sidelined since the last week of January, driver Mark MacDonald made a successful return to the Yonkers Raceway driving colony on Thursday night.
MacDonald, who required surgery on his nose and cheekbone as a result of previous accidents, won with his first drive back by angling McEver ($19.80) off the cones to win the $6,500 third-race pace going away in 1:58.
The PEI native now boasts 5,252 wins lifetime along with nearly $75 million in purses.
Yonkers’s Thursday Pick 5, buoyed by a $25,000 guaranteed pool, had the requisite guaranteed interest. A total of $24,825 of fresh money was tossed in to accompany the $7,500 carryover (via a Tuesday non-hit), so the till was oversized.
The winning combination of 8/5/5/7/1 -- just one double-digit proposition and one delivered-the-goods favourite -- returned $1,741.25 for every two quarters.
The Pick 5 is a 50-cent base wager offered on races 5 through 9 nightly. It has no consolation payoff, meaning if no one selects all five winners (as was the case Tuesday), the entire pool (minus takeout) moves to the next racing program.
(with files from Yonkers)
Welcome back Mac!
Welcome back Mac!