Yonkers Raceway hosts its richest races of the season to date next week, with finals of the Petticoat (girls, $60,200) and Sagamore Hill (boys, $63,000) Pacing Series.
Both series were open to three and four-year-olds who were non-winners of four races and/or $40,000 through last December 1.
Chivalry has its place, so the ladies of the Petticoat are up first in Monday night’s sixth race. Capela (Scott Zeron, post seven), the only perfect (three-for-three) prelim lass, didn’t get a whole lot of help with the open draw. The four-year-old daughter of Sportsmaster, trained by Reginald Hazzard for co-owners Reginald Hazzard II and Legacy Racing of Delaware, enters having won her last five starts.
Little Miss Sporty (Brian Sears, post three) won twice in her series legs, while Heavenly Hill (Jordan Stratton, post eight) rolled to a convincing win in her last chance to impress the judges.
Brown Brinny (Jason Bartlett, post one), Im in Luv (Matt Kakaley, post two), Rolling Going Gone (Brent Holland, post four), Special Package (Dan Dube, post five) and Bin In Heaven (George Brennan, post six) round out the roster.
Tuesday afternoon, it’s the finale (sixth race) of Yonkers’ annual tribute to Teddy Roosevelt, the Sagamore Hill.
Rodeo Romeo (Sears, post two) and Dontcallmefrancis (Bartlett, post six) each spoke softly and carried a big stick, as in a pair of wins and a second in prelim competition.
The former — Sears’ choice of the two — is a four-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover trained by Chris Ryder for co-owners Oompa’s Farm, Michael Day and Robert Mondillo, while the latter is a three-year-old Rocknroll Hanover gelding owned by Enzed Racing and trained by Nifty Norman.
Secret Delight (Kakaley, post five) and J T (Brennan, post seven) also each won twice in the preps, while Tonis Affection (Zeron, post one), AM Magic Man (Dube, post three), Sports Bettor (Mark MacDonald, post four) and B Well (Andy Miller, post eight) complete the gang.
Each series is accompanied by a respective $25,000 consolation as a fifth race.
(Yonkers Raceway)