O'Brien Award finalist All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley, $5.60) avoided some early happenstance and held sway Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $32,000 Open Handicap Pace.
Remanded outside his seven rivals, All Bets Off floated from the gate early, then saw 3-2 favourite Fan Of Terror (Brian Sears) made a bad break out of the first turn. That allowed All Bets Off to take a seat fourth as pole-assigned Dream Out Loud N (George Brennan) led through a :28.1 opening quarter-mile.
All Bets Off wanted no part of mid-pack, cruising to the lead right past a 57-second intermission. Down the backside, Rock Icon (Tyler Buter), who was bothered when Fan Of Terror jumped it off, tried his luck moving from fifth.
However, a :27.4 third quarter (1:24.4) kept him at bay as All Bets Off owned a length and a half lead in the lane. Dream Out Loud N took his shot from the pocket, but missed a neck in 1:52.2. Season-debuting Texican N (Eric Carlson) was third, with Duel In The Sun (Mark MacDonald) and a ’16-bowing P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett) rounding out the payees.
For second choice All Bets Off, a five-year-old son of Bettors Delight co-owned by trainer Ron Burke (as Burke Racing), Frank Baldachino, Weaver Bruscemi and Panhellenic Stable, the win was his first in a pair of seasonal starts. The exacta paid $29.20, with the triple returning $216.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)