Bartlett On Matchmaker, Levy Starters

Published: April 22, 2015 05:09 pm EDT

This Saturday night at Yonkers Raceway, driver Jason Bartlett will be experiencing both ends of the track’s open-draw stakes spectrum.

Bartlett has land Post 1 for the $261,000 final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series with Venus Delight and Post 8 with defending champion P H Supercam for the $529,000 final of the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series. Both horses are owned by Bamond Racing and trained by Jeffrey Bamond Jr.

The 28th edition of the ‘Levy’ – the free-for-all event named for the hall of fame founder of Roosevelt Raceway – is the sport’s richest race of the season to date, while the seventh ‘Matchmaker’ (an open mare pace) is at No. 2 on the hit parade.

The ‘Matchmaker’ has been carded as Race 6 on Yonkers’ Saturday card and Bartlett will steer Venus Delight from the rail. “Obviously, you’re going to use it (Post 1) to her advantage,” Bartlett said. “Push out, not get away third and fourth. There’s no ‘looking to work a trip from third or fourth’ here.

“She’s not real quick, but she can go all day. Her last quarter is usually her best one.”

Venus Delight, a five-year-old daughter of Bettors Delight, earned her way into the final with two wins and a second in three prelim starts. She comes off a season’s-best 1:53.2 effort (also from the inside post position) in Round 4 of the series, then earned last week off.

While Bartlett loves his starting venue with ‘Venus,’ he is loathing his point of entry with P H Supercam in the Levy, which has been carded as the eighth race.

“It’s unfortunate, but we have to play the hand that’s dealt,” he said. “(P H Supercam) is very versatile, and you can race him any way you want.

“I think he’s shown he’s the best horse in this series, and he really hasn’t had to be raced too hard.

“He’s coming into the final as sharp as he can be, but I also know you don’t win too many races here sitting last. My job is to find a way to get him involved.”

The field for the Levy final appears below.

(Post Position – Horse – Driver)
1 – Domethatagain – Dan Dube
2 – Lucan Hanover – David Miller
3 – Windsong Jack – Eric Carlson
4 – Beach Memories – Yannick Gingras
5 – Take It Back Terry – George Brennan
6 – Polak A – Brian Sears
7 – Mach It So – Tim Tetrick
8 – P H Supercam – Jason Bartlett

The field for the Matchmaker final appears below.

(Post Position – Horse – Driver)
1 – Venus Delight – Jason Bartlett
2 – Yagonnakissmeornot – Brian Sears
3 – Fancy Desire – Yannick Gingras
4 – Carolsideal – Dan Dube
5 – Monkey On My Wheel – David Miller
6 – Strings – Eric Carlson
7 – Krispy Apple – Tim Tetrick
8 – Camille – George Brennan

(With files from Yonkers)

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