Quebec-owned and bred pacing mare Lit De Rose, racing with Lasix for the first time, angled off the pylons in early stretch and rallied furiously to get by favoured Easy To Please in the first of three $40,000 divisions in round four of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series on Friday night (April 8) at Yonkers Raceway. Trainer/driver Pat Lachance guided the seven-year-old daughter of Leader Bayama to a 1:52.3 score.
Man Dontforget Me and driver Dexter Dunn marched away sharply from the pole position, forcing Lachance to duck in behind her on the opening bend with Lit De Rose, a 7-2 proposition. Easy To Please, in search of her third victory in the series for driver Jordan Stratton, left hard from post six but settled in fourth on the opening bend. With the field in line, Dunn set fractions of :26.3 and :55.4 for the first half with Man Dontforget Me. Stratton asked Easy To Please to move past the half and the four-year-old rallied up to the pacemaker with three-quarters hit in 1:24.2.
Late on the final turn, Easy To Please surged to command and appeared destined for her third straight win, but Lachance was able to angle Lit De Rose out behind her and the mare kicked into high gear and rolled by in the shadow of the wire. Easy To Please settled for second, with Man Dontforget Me third.
Owned and bred by Guy Corbeil of Mirabel, Que., Lit De Rose returned $9.60 to win and keyed a $22.40 exacta and $62.50 trifecta. With her fourth win in 2022, Lit De Rose has earned $109,610 this year.
Drama Act then made it three victories in four Blue Chip Matchmaker legs, posting the fastest division to date with a 1:51.1 mile for driver George Brennan.
Action was fast and furious at the outset of the second division, as Best Head West and Mystical Carrie engaged in a bitter battle into the opening bend, with Matt Kakaley and Best Head West finally seating her rival midway on the turn. Drama Act settled in third in the early going, but Brennan pushed her to the front just past the :26.4 first fraction.
Once on top, the 1-5 favoured Drama Act rolled to fractions of :56 and 1:23.4 before facing a brief challenge by pocket-sitter Best Head West in the late stages. Brennan shook the lines and Drama Act completed her mile with a :27.2 final quarter, holding Best Head West at bay. Mystical Carrie tried to make a second move down the backstretch but was unable to engage the top pair, yet did hold third gamely.
Drama Act is owned by The OK Corral and trained by Ron Burke. The winner returned $2.40 and led a $4.20 exacta and $8.40 trifecta.
Keep Rockin A and Tim Tetrick broke the ice with first victories in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, scoring a 17-1 upset in the final $40,000 stanza of the evening.
Getting away from the pole position, Tetrick saw three horses leave to his right but protected position, forcing multiple tucks before ceding the lead to 7-5 choice Gias Surreal prior to the :27.2 first quarter. Jason Bartlett had full control with Gias Surreal through fractions of :56.3 and 1:24.1 as Blue Ivy and Tyler Buter attempted a coverless trip down the backstretch, followed by 3-2 second choice Karma Seelster.
Gias Surreal had a clear lead as Blue Ivy tired on the final turn, but that gave Tetrick ample room to pull Keep Rockin A from the pocket and pounce on the leader. The Jeff Cullipher-trained Keep Rockin A responded to Tetrick urging to roll past and posted a 1:51.4 mile in winning for the first time in six tries in 2022. Gias Surreal, making her second start of the year, had to settle for second, with Karma Seelster and No Win No Feed A following in third and fourth.
Owned by Cullipher and Pollack Racing LLC, Keep Rockin A returned $36 to win and keyed a $169 exacta and $340 trifecta. With fourth place finisher No Win No Feed A added, the 10-cent superfecta returned $65.20. The six-year-old Keep Rockin A is a daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven.
The fourth round of the MGM Borgata Series is featured on Monday night's (April 11) 13-race Yonkers program, with four $50,000 divisions on tap. Additional stakes action follows on Wednesday (April 13) with four $25,000 splits of the second leg of the John Brennan Trotting Series
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)