If Sherman and Mr. Peabody dialed up the WABAC Machine to the summer of 1993, they would have found Giant Force winning Yonkers Raceway’s International Trot.
As a four-year-old back then, Giant Force, driven by John Patterson Jr., traversed the mile-and-a-quarter distance in 2:27. That local aged group standard lasted for nearly 23 years...until Tuesday afternoon.
Crescent Fashion (co-owner/trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt) turned what appeared to be a mismatch on paper into an unfair fight on the track. As the 2-5 favourite, Crescent Fashion ($2.90) won the day’s first “French” trot by 4¾ lengths in 2:25.4. The stakes-winning son of Muscle Hill, who earned more than $300,000 as a sophomore, made his seasonal debut in this non-winners of six parimutuels (or $60,000) lifetime event and made his rivals pay.
The new track record was one of the few gauntlets not thrown down by Jason Bartlett, who, from 11 drives, won half of the day’s dozen races.
(with files from Yonkers)