With just 11 weeks remaining before the $1 million MGM Yonkers International Trot, the management at MGM Yonkers Raceway is already extending invitations and has its eyes open for potential additions to the trotting classic.
Yonkers Raceway will host the 1-1/4-mile event for some of the world’s best older trotters on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Each week, a new contender for the race will be unveiled and first up is the Danish representative Get A Wish. Born in Denmark and sold as a yearling to trainer Bo Westergaard, the five-year-old is in the mold of his American-bred sire Wishing Stone and owned by an 11-person group called the My Little Pony Stable, a moniker chosen to honour the horse’s diminutive size.
A winner at both two and three, Get A Wish captured his biggest victory as a four-year-old in the $300,000 Danish Trotting Derby, going all the way on the lead in the 1-7/8-mile race. To date in 2023, Get A Wish has won a pair of $25,000 Open Trots for his age group and was among the favourites in the $200,000 Oslo Grand Prix before making a break in stride at the start from post one due to driver error, according to Westergaard.
With the Yonkers International Trot still a few months away, Get A Wish is planning to start next in the $160,000 Jarlsberg Grand International in Norway on July 9. After that, the five-year-old is hoping to get a couple of invites in Europe before potentially heading across the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Espen Edvardsen, who represents the ownership group, they are all very excited about the trip to the United States for the International and are planning to make a week out of the experience.
“To us, it will certainly be the experience of a lifetime,” said Edvardsen, who doesn’t believe the smaller track will be an issue for Get A Wish despite no experience over a half-mile surface. “He is extremely fast behind the gate and he can cope with any size of turns. Of course, the post position is important, but the horse races good from behind as well.”
The Yonkers International Trot will be part of a blockbuster program that includes a pair of six-figure Invitationals and the $1.8 million New York Sire Stakes Day of Champions to honour the best two and three-year-olds in the state. Post time for the special card is noon.
(Yonkers Raceway; Photo of Espen Edvardsen with Klaus Koch)