Rockathon (Jordan Stratton, $10.80) and Weslynn Dancer (Matt Kakaley, $33.80) divided the distinction Saturday night (Feb. 2), winning Yonkers Raceway’s co-featured $44,000 Open Handicaps.
Pole-assigned Rockathon seated his pacing elders, including even-money favourite Air Strike (Brent Holland). After early intervals of :27.2 and :56.1, Air Strike took out of third, mildly engaging by a 1:24.3 three-quarters.
Rockathon owned 1-1/2 length lead into the lane, but a stubborn Air Strike would not go quietly into the night. He did sustain the bid, but missed by a half-length in 1:53.2. Betttors Fire N (Ron Cushing) rolled from last to grab third, with a pocketed Our Zak Whitby A (George Brennan) and a tough-trip Christen Me N (Kakakey) settling for the remainder.
For third choice Rockathon, a four-year-old Pet Rock gelding co-owned by trainer Ricky Bucci with Blue Meadow Farm, it was his first win in a pair of seasonal starts. The exacta paid $30.80, the triple returned $494 and the superfecta paid $3,065.
The marquee trot saw 3-10 choice Smalltownthrowdown (Dan Dubé) get stung early by Mostinterestingman (Troy Beyer) through a :27.2 opening quarter. He then rated a :29.2 second split, but the damage had been done.
Weslynn Dancer and Meladys Monet (Stratton) began to advance from the back, getting some inroads through three-quarters in 1:25.3. Smalltownthrowdown took a 1-1/4 length lead off the final turn, but was tiring.
Lone lass Weslynn Dancer went by, as did Meladys Monet, with the former prevailing by a short nose in the fastest local trotting mile of the season. Smalltownthrowdown faded to third, with Lily’s Swan Pond (Joe Bongiorno) and Mostinterestingman flipping the final two envelopes after an interference placement.
For fourth choice Weslynn Dancer, a five-year-old daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe co-owned by Barbara and James Boese and trained by Richard Banca, it was her first win in three 2019 tries. The exacta paid $121.50, the triple returned $316.50 and the superfecta paid $3,133.
(Yonkers Raceway)