Millionaire Foiled Again captured Saturday night's $460,000 final of Yonkers Raceway's George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series, successfully defending his title in a season's-best 1:52.1 effort
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Jason Bartlett, the Raceway's leading driver, won his first Levy, an event for older pacers. The series is named for the Hall of Fame founder of Roosevelt Raceway, where the series started in 1978. It is North American harness racing's richest race of the season to date.
Leaving from post position No. 5, Foiled Again found himself caught in the early happenstance.
Mr Wiggles (Corey Callahan)--who started from the pole as half of the 6-5 favoured entry--made a break and impeded virtually all seven horses behind him. Poker Hat (Brett Miller) and River Shark (Dan Dube) took the worst of it. Foiled Again did eventually take over the lead before the :28-second opening quarter-mile.
He then rated a tepid :56.2 and 1:24.2, with Legal Litigator (Yannick Gingras) pocketed and River Shark looking to get back into the fray first-up. Foiled Again owned a length-and-a-half lead into the lane before defeating Legal Litigator by a length-and-a-quarter. Atochia (Dave Palone), was third, beaten a couple of lengths by his winning stablemate.
Mr Wiggles recovered to cross the line fourth, but was set back to eighth (last) for his transgression. That one's entrymate, Southwind Lynx (Tim Tetrick), finished fifth, but by rule (interference by another part of entry) was placed seventh That moved 82-1 rank outsider Tenant In Chief (Brent Holland) from sixth to fourth and River Shark from seventh to fifth. Poker Hat was eighth-placed-sixth.
"There was some confusion in that first turn," Bartlett said. "I thought my horse was going to break, but he gathered himself and we were able to rate fairly soft fractions. It's one of my biggest wins for sure."
For Foiled Again, a six-year-old Dragon Again gelding trained by Ron Burke for co-owners by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and JJK Stables, he paid $5.40 (second choice) for his fourth win in six races this season. The exacta paid $73.50, with the triple returning $638.
Foiled Again's 38th career victory increased his lifetime earnings to $1,420,273.
"My horse saw something on the track and it spooked him," Callahan said. "I think it may have been a run-down patch [a white piece of protective equipment worn underneath a horse's hind ankle]. When we came a round again, he was in behind Yannick's horse [Legal Litigator] so he didn’t bother him that time.
"What are you going to do? I thought we had a big shot, especially with the draw. It's just one of those things."
As for Burke, he completed a stakes double after Ginger and Fred (Tetrick) rolled in the $237,000 final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker for pacing mares.
After Ubetterthink Think (Brandson Simpson) grilled On The Glass (Bartlett) through fractions of :26.2 and :54.3--the latter out two turns before getting stuffed in the pocket--Ginger And Fred moved from second up and busted the race wide open. She won by four widening lengths in 1:52, a track record for four-year-old mares.
Shanghai Lil (Stephane Bouchard) grabbed second, with McGibson (Palone), On The Glass and Symphony In Motion (Jeff Gregory) rounding out the payees.
For odds-on Ginger And Fred, a four-year-old daughter of Real Artist co-owned by Robert Feldman, Edwin Gold, Howard Taylor and Jerry Silva, she returned $3.90 for her third win in 11 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $29.80, the triple returned $533 and superfecta paid $3,014.
"She's a solid mare, and the race just set up perfectly for us," Tetrick said. "When I asked her to go, she went. I knew the horses up front were done, and I was pretty sure I had the ones in the back."
A pair of consolations, worth $100,000 (Levy) and $75,000 (Matchmaker), respectively, were won by Go Go Solano (Miller, $5.30) in 1:51.3 and Southwind Tempo (Cat Manzi, $2.20) in 1:52.3. Go Go Solano earned a place in the local record book (four-year-old geldings), while "Tempo" matched the track record for aged pacing mares.
The 1:51.3 effort by Go Go Solano--equaled later in the $32,000 Open Pace by Real Nice (Bouchard)--are the fastest local miles of the season.
A $50,000 event for Levy eligibles was won by Handsome Harry (Miller, $16.60) in 1:52.
(Yonkers Raceway)