Three $50,000 USD divisions of the final preliminary round of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series will go behind the gate on Monday night, April 15 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Fresh off a win last night (April 8), Pleaseletmeknow (post five) is among the entrants in the first split (race two). Rocknroll Runa A (post three) has two wins in the prelims but will have to bounce back after finishing fifth in the fourth leg, and Whats Stanley Got A (post one), who has a pair of runner-ups and victory in his series appearances thus far, is back in action after taking the fourth round off.
Backstreet Shadow has the pole position in the second flight (race nine) after tallying on April 8. Dunkin (post four) won in rounds two and three but made a miscue before the start in the fourth leg and will look to get back on track. Covered Bridge (post two) won back in the opening round and will look to duplicate that feat in this race.
Linedrive Hanover (post two) skipped the fourth prelim but returns on April 15 in the last section (race 10). He'll match up against former series champions Hellabalou (post three) and Funatthebeach N (post six).
A full look at the fields is as follows:
Division 1 (Race 2)
Post - Horse - Listed Driver - Trainer
1. Whats Stanley Got A - George Brennan - Cory Stratton
2. Venturesome Arden N - George Brennan - Ricky Bucci
3. Rocknroll Runa A - Mark MacDonald - Larry Stalbaum
4. This Is The Plan - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
5. Pleaseletmeknow - Matt Kakaley - Travis Alexander
Division 2 (Race 9)
Post - Horse - Listed Driver - Trainer
1. Backstreet Shadow - Matt Kakaley - Travis Alexander
2. Covered Bridge - Jordan Stratton - Jeff Gillis
3. Hemsworth N - Tim Tetrick - Jared Bako
4. Dunkin - Tim Tetrick - Scott Di Domenico
5. Coaches Corner - Jason Bartlett - Per Engblom
6. Semi Tough - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
Division 3 (Race 10)
Post - Horse - Listed Driver - Trainer
1. Strengthfromabove - Jason Bartlett - Besim Odza
2. Linedrive Hanover - Scott Zeron - Linda Toscano
3. Hellabalou - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
4. Leonidas A-Austin Siegelman-Matthew Medeiros
5. Idealsomemagic A - George Brennan - Cory Stratton
6. Funatthebeach N - Jordan Stratton - Jeff Gillis
Point totals for the MGM Borgata Pacing Series heading into the final leg are available here.
The $200,000 USD added final of the Borgata is slated to take place on Monday, April 22. This year's final will also have a "win and you're in" feature for the $125,000 USD Birthday Invitational Pace in May to celebrate 125 years of Yonkers Raceway, the Battle of Lake Erie at MGM Northfield on June 8 and the Aria Invitational at Yonkers scheduled for Sept. 7.
The John Brennan Trotting Series will be added to the current mix of ongoing stakes races at MGM Yonkers Raceway on Wednesday, April 10 with five $25,000 USD tilts to get that event underway. The Brennan Series, which has three prelims prior to the $55,000 USD added final on April 31, is named in honour of the longtime Standardbred Owners Association of New York horsemen's representative who passed away from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020. The series is for three-year-olds and older who were non-winners of six pari-mutuel races or $200,000 USD through Feb. 1, 2024, with winners over $250,000 USD as of that date not eligible.
The Friday, April 12 program at Yonkers will be headlined by two $40,000 USD splits of the last round of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series for pacing mares. Tonys Mom (post two) and Incaseyoudidntknow (post eight) each seek their second win in the prelims in the first division (race five), while the other section (race nine) has leg winners Lit De Rose (post one), Dougs Babe A (post two), Delitfulcatherin N (post four) and Racine Bell (post seven). The $125,000 USD added final of the Matchmaker Series is also slated to take place on Monday, April 22. Point totals for the Matchmaker Series going into the last round can be found here.
Live harness racing takes place at Yonkers on a Monday through Friday schedule with post time each night at 7 p.m. (EDT).
(Yonkers Raceway)