Tobago Cays, driven by Jim Pantaleano, tuned in the fastest local mile of the season through the snowflakes Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway's $35,000 Open Handicap Pace.
In what turned out to be a two-speed number, Tobago Cays--from post position No. 5--yielded to Electrofire (Brian Sears) before a :27-second opening quarter-mile.
After a :55.2 intermission and a gapped-out octet, Nob Hill High (Eric Goodell) moved from fifth. He had a lot of work to do going toward the 1:23.4 three-quarters, with Electrofire taking a length and a half lead into the lane.
However, tepid 5-2 choice Tobago Cays was waiting patiently, edging from the pocket and getting to the leader. He did, winning by a half-length in 1:53.2. Nob Hill High raced well to hold the bottom of the ticket--beaten three and three-quarter lengths--with Our Cullenscrown N (George Brennan) and Something For Doc (Matt Kakaley) rounding out the payees.
For Tobaco Cays, a regally-bred six-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover (mom is Bunny Lake) owned by Brian Nixon and trained by Ross Croghan, he returned $7.50 for his second (consecutive) win in three seasonal starts. The exacta paid $55, with the triple returning $273.
(Yonkers Raceway)