Stakes action remains very much in vogue this weekend, with Yonkers Raceway offering 16 series events Friday and Saturday nights
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Saturday night, it's round two of the popular George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series. As was the case in last week's opener, a happy half-dozen of $50,000 Free-For-All divisions (races 4, 6,7,8,9 & 11) go postward.
Each and every one of last week's winners have returned to double down, with two of them - Blueridge Western (Corey Callahan, post 1) and Clear Vision (Cat Manzi, post 7) - squaring off in the second division of the Levy. The former was given a slick Dave Palone drive, while the latter fought off all comers to last from the pylons.
Kevin McDermott trains Blueridge Western, a five-year-old Allamerican Ingot gelding, while Clear Vision, a four-year-old Western Hanover gelding, is trained by Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman.
Jason Bartlett, triple-listed (Blueridge Western, Handsome Harry [post 2], Foiled Again [post 6]) on the overnight sheet, elected to drive Foiled Again, the defending series champ.
"(Foiled Again) is the only horse I would have chosen over Blueridge Western," Bartlett said.
"If Jason plans on leaving, he's going to get a lot of Yonkers air," McDermott said.
(Author's aside…the Environmental Protection Agency has not determined Yonkers' air quality for Saturday.)
Wholly Louy (Manzi, post 7), who rarely throws in a clunker here, landed in Saturday night's first division. The six-year-old Camluck gelding - a second-up winner a week ago - is trained by Casie Coleman and goes after a 32nd lifetime victory.
Poker Hat (Brett Miller, post 5) - he of the fastest (1:52.4) opening-leg mile - landed in this week's third division. It was the 30th career victory for the six-year-old Cams Card Shark gelding, trained by James Borke.
Trainer George Teague, Jr. and driver Callahan teamed to win twice in this series a week ago, with Western Ace and Southwind Lynx each landing six-holes in Saturday's fourth and fifth events, respectively.
Friday night's second round of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series duplicates the first, with a trio of seven-horse fields (races 3, 9 and 11) going for $40,000 each.
In fact, 20 of last week's 21 pacing mares are back at it, including all three winners - Makerbark, Ubetterthink Think and Call Me Yours - trained by Mark Ford.
Makerbark landed post position six in the opening group, with Stephane Bouchard again getting the assignment. The five-year-old daughter of Dragon Again, who rolled by at 16-1 in Round 1, has hit the board in her last four tries. Her 1:54.1 effort was the fastest in the first round.
On The Glass (Bartlett, post 7) had won her last three races before tiring to fourth as the odds-on choice in her Matchmaker event a week ago.
Ubetterthink Think (Brandon Simpson, post 6) began her series with a sold, blowout mile. The six-year-old Bettors Delight mare led at every pylon as she moves toward $600,000 in lifetime earnings.
Go On BB (Bartlett, post 2) and Lightning Treasure (Manzi, post 4) were both bridesmaids in their opening-round trials.
Call Me Yours (Bouchard, post 3) eyes a third consecutive victory in Friday night's final Blue Chip event. The homebred, who is owned by Stephen Gillard of Tavistock, ON, is five-year-old daughter of Your Nemesis. She has won her last couple decisively from off the pace, including last week's 15-1 upset.
Yonkers' weekend series also include the third (final) preliminary rounds in both the Petticoat (Friday) and Sagamore Hill (Saturday) Pacing Series for three and four-year-olds of both genders.
Four, $12,500 divisions of the Petticoat and three, $12,500 divisions of the Sagamore Hill are scheduled this weekend, leading to next weekend’s series finals, worth $62,200 (Petticoat, Friday) and $66,400 (Sagamore Hill, Saturday), respectively.
(Yonkers Raceway)