Pocketed Outrageous Art (Jason Bartlett, $29) and two-move Luminosity (George Brennan, $7.90) shared the Saturday Derby Night glory, winning Yonkers Raceway’s co-featured $40,000 Open Handicaps.
The week’s marquee pace was a two-speed number, with 6-5 favourite Atta Boy Dan (Brennan) and Outrageous Art leaving from post position Nos. 5 and 4 (each in one after an inside scratch), respectively.
The people’s preference led through intervals of :28, :56.4 and 1:24.3, negating a second move from outside assignee Lucan Hanover (Brian Sears).
Atta Boy Dan owned a length and a half lead into the lane, with Outrageous Art ducking inside. The double-digit number picked off the favourite, winning by a half-length in a season’s-best 1:52.1. Stolen Car (Tyler Buter), Jeneral Patton (Pat Lachance) and Texican N (Jordan Stratton) completed the cashers.
For fifth choice Outrageous Art, a nine-year-old son of Art Major trained by Rene Allard and owned by Allard Racing and Ameer Najor, the win was his sixth in 13 career starts. The exacta paid $83, the triple returned $619 and the superfecta paid $1,923.
The week’s trotting feature saw Luminosity get thrown in play early and that tact served him well.
From post No. 7, he wedged into a three-hole behind Somebody AS (Stratton) and Monroe County (Bartlett). The former put up early weigh stations of :27.2 of :56.3, while Luminosity was planning his next move. That one engaged the leader through a 1:25.2 three-quarters before wearing him down off the final turn.
Luminosity then finished it off, defeating a second-up Major Athens (Sears)—the slight 2-1 choice—by two and a quarter lengths in 1:54.1 Homicide Hunter (Mark MacDonald) was an uncovered third in his four-year-old/local/half-mile track debut, while Monroe County and Newcastle (Buter) settled for the remainder.
For Luminosity, a six-year-old Cash Hall gelding co-owned by trainer Ron Burke (as Burke Racing) and Weaver Bruscemi, he’s now three-for-eight this season. The exacta paid $25.80, with the triple returning $132.
Yonkers Raceway’s Kentucky Derby party featured all the obligatory ingredients, including music, food and drink specials, the occasional wager or two and, of course, the spiffy hat contest.
The celebrity judge for said contest was none other than Bethenny Frankel, who brought out the crowd for pictures, autographs, and—not coincidentally—autographed pictures.
Ms. Frankel’s visit would not have been complete, it says here, without a photo op with one of Yonkers’ own, Jordan Stratton. The man who chauffeured Bit Of A Legend N to his victory in the last month’s final of the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series made his way to the winner’s circle again for this money shot.
We’re going with ”Real Housewife of New York Greets Real Harness Driver of Yonkers.”
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)