With the conclusion of Blue Chip Matchmaker preliminary parade, Yonkers Raceway's Friday night fare was highlighted by the $33,000 Open Handicap Trot...which was highlighted by a high price, as in pocket-patrolling, 40-1 stunner Coach Fox
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Assigned the pole, Coach Fox and driver Larry Stalbaum shadowed Some Like It Hot (George Brennan) through early intervals of :27.4 and :57.2. First-up came Wuthering Hanover (Jordan Stratton), with 13-10 favourite Flex The Muscle (Jeff Gregory) behind that one.
However, "that one" was a flat one, making no inroads in and out of the 1:26 three-quarters. Some Like It Hot, with a length and a half lead entering the lane, was about to buckle. Coach Fox edged from the pocket, with Celebrity Bluechip ducking inside.
The former whipped the latter by a head in 1:55.2 That effort matched the fast local trotting mile of the season. Third went to Flex The Muscle, with Looking Hanover (Yannick Gingras) and Some Like It Hot completing the cashers.
For Coach Fox, a nine-year-old Keystone Nordic gelding co-owned by his driver and Mike Sorentino Jr. and trained by Kim Asher, he returned $82 for his second win in seven seasonal starts. The exacta paid $284, with the triple returning $2,055.
Gingras, who first gained prominence in Westchester a decade ago, was feted Friday for his 4,000th career victory, accomplished this past Sunday afternoon at Harrah's Chester.
North American harness racing's two richest races of the season to date take place at Yonkers Saturday night. The older crowd goes out in the $455,000 final of the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series and the $297,000 final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series.
(Yonkers Raceway)