This weekend, it's the fifth and final preliminary round of Yonkers Raceway's George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series and Blue Chip Matchmaker, with one last crack at earning those precious points.
The Levy series has been a consistent in its contenders. Of the 46 horses who've made at least one start, 31 have raced in each of the first four prelim events (note that in addition to earning performance points divided like purse money, each starter gets a 25-point 'appearance fee').
Saturday night's four, $50,000 Levy divisions (Race 7 through 10) finds both Ron Burke-trained series points leader Atochia and defending champ Foiled Again. The former drew the pole in the opening event, while the latter did the same in the final grouping. Jason Bartlett will steer both, who each enter Saturday night with eerily-reflecting resumes (wins in weeks two and three, seconds in weeks one and four).
While Burke is residing 1-2 in the standings, George Teague, Jr. is right behind, third with Mr Wiggles and fourth with Southwind Lynx. Mr. Wiggles opposes Atochia Saturday night, leaving from Post 4 in the opener, while Southwind Lynx, joined at the wagering waist by Badlands Nitro, has landed the pylons for the second event. Corey Callahan will drive both 'Wiggles' and 'Lynx.'
A week ago, Jeremys Successor (driven by Tyler Buter) and Legal Litigator (Brett Miller) threw down their respective gauntlets to the tune of 1:52.1, which went down as fastest local miles of the season. As fate would have it, those two will see one another during Saturday night's third series event, leaving from Post 2 and 7.
Friday night's trio of $40,000 Matchmaker melees (Races 4, 6 and 8) has a half-dozen lasses in each. With points awarded the same way they are in the Levy, series leader Ubetterthink Think landed the two-hole in the middle event. Brandon Simpson will drive for trainer Mark Ford.
All three of last week's winners, Little Mermaid N, On the Glass and Symphony in Motion, are back once again, with On the Glass and Symphony in Motion colliding with Ubetterthink Think in the second division.
Both series finals will go Saturday, May 1, with purses of $460,000 (Levy) and $237,000 (Matchmaker).
Please note Yonkers added Wednesday nights to its live schedule and eliminated Thursday nights. First post for all programs (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) remains at 7:10 p.m.
(With files from Yonkers)