Huntinthelastdolar, Donegal Luther N and Coaches Corner won the three $68,493 divisions of the final preliminary leg of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series on Monday, April 27 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Driven by Jason Bartlett, Huntinthelastdolar led through fractions of :27.3, :56.2 and 1:24.1 in the first flight and held off the first-over Mossdale Ben N (Jim Marohn Jr.) to his outside and pocket-sitter Celtic Spirit N (Joe Bongiorno) to his inside to win by a nose in 1:51.3. Mossdale Ben N was second, and Celtic Spirit N finished third.
Per Engblom trains Huntinthelastdolar, a six-year-old gelded son of Huntsville-Eighthunrdolarbill, for owners E Five Racing and John Fielding. Huntinthelastdolar made his 26th stop in the winner's circle from 76 trips behind the gate and has now banked $1,519,789. He returned $6.56 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
In the second split, Soho Firestone A (Colin Kelly) led to the quarter in :27.1, the half in :55.3 and the three-quarters in 1:23.3, but an outer tier led by Donegal Luther N (Jordan Stratton) made steady progress on the rim, and Soho Firestone A and Donegal Luther N went into the final bend side-by-side.
On the far turn, Donegal Luther N sustained his bid to go by Soho Firestone A for good, and he held off rallying bids by second-over Redwood Hanover (Bartlett) and third-over Sweet Beach Life (Matt Kakaley) down the stretch, defeating the former by a neck in a 1:52 effort. Sweet Beach Life was the third-place finisher.
Donegal Luther N is an eight-year-old Bettors Creek-Donegal Lucy gelding trained by Jared Bako for the ownership group of Kap Singh Racing Stable, Stephen Klunowski and Earl Hill Jr. The recent Australian import, three-for-five in the U.S., has 14 wins from 51 career starts and has earned $270,880. He paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
Coaches Corner, driven by Bartlett, took the last section in 1:51.1. He went to the front from post three, clicked off panels of :28, :56.1 and 1:23.2, and couldn't be caught in the lane, defeating a closing Howlenthehills (Kakaley) by 1-1/4 lengths. Pocket-sitter Aye Aye Captain N (Brent Holland) held off Captain Albano (Stratton) for third.
Engblom sent out Coaches Corner, a six-year-old gelding by Always A Virgin-Carobbean Pacetry, for owners Jeff Fought Racing and Brian Carsey. Coaches Corner has 37 wins from 96 lifetime appearances and has put away $2,089,437. He returned $2.46 to win as the 1-5 favourite.
Unofficially, the top eight horses in the point standings at the conclusion of this year's MGM Borgata Pacing Series prelims are:
- Huntinthelastdolar (308 points)
- Mossdale Ben N (300 points)
- Redwood Hanover (283 points)
- Soho Firestone A (262 points)
- Donegal Luther N (262 points)
- Captain Albano (253 points)
- Howlenthehills (249 points)
- Coaches Corner (233 points)
The 2026 MGM Borgata Pacing Series will end with the $200,000 USD (added) final and $100,000 USD (guaranteed) consolation on Friday, May 8. That program will also include the $200,000 USD (added) final and $100,000 USD (guaranteed) consolation of the MGM Ursula McIntyre Series for older pacing mares.
MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday/Tuesday and Thursday-through-Saturday live racing schedule with post time at 6:45 p.m., except on Saturdays when it is 3:30 p.m.
(Yonkers Raceway; photo of Huntinthelastdolar winning on April 27)