MGM Yonkers Raceway hosted eliminations for the first legs of the Triple Crown -- the Yonkers Trot and Messenger Stakes -- on Friday, June 21.
Bargain (pictured above) was in front throughout and held off pocket-sitter Fly By in the stretch to win the lone $34,247 MGM Yonkers Trot elimination for three-year-old colts and geldings in 1:54.3.
Driven by Yannick Gingras, Bargain shot out from post four and made the front early on the first turn with Fly By (Scott Zeron) also showing speed and finding the pocket prior to the :28.2 opening quarter. With no challengers on the outside after that, Gingras was able to back down the half to :57.4 and the three-quarters in 1:26, but Zeron swung Fly By to the outside midway through the far turn.
After being shown clear racetrack, Fly By quickly moved up to battle Bargain and appeared in the lane like he was going to go past, but Bargain was game and responded to the challenge, keeping a nose in front of Fly By to the finish line. Im Out (Tim Tetrick), who went first-over out of fourth before three-quarters, slid back down to the pylons on the last turn and wound up third, and Flying Kronos S (Ake Svanstedt) followed Im Out's moves and checked in fourth. Duke Of Walner (Matt Kakaley) was fifth and got the remaining spot in the $300,000 USD final, joining bye-takers Security Protected, Sir Pinocchio and Situationship.
A New York-sired gelding by Chapter Seven, Bargain was bred by Steve Stewart and Michael Andrew and is trained by Nancy Takter, who co-owns with JAF Racing, ChristinaTakter&Anderberg, Joe Sbrocco and R A W Equine Inc. Bargain, who was second in the Sire Stakes final at Yonkers last September, has a summary of 4-3-0 from 11 starts and has earned $212,453.
He paid $10 to win as part of an entry with Duke Of Walner that went off at 4-1. The exacta was worth $25.80 and the trifecta kicked back $75.
Race favourites Howlenthehills and Janelle Granny emerged victorious from the pair of $34,247 MGM Grand Messenger Stakes eliminations for sophomore colt and gelding pacers.
Captain Skippy (Dexter Dunn) blasted to the front from the outside post seven in the opening elimination, but then he made a break on the first turn. When Captain Skippy broke, Dunn took him to the outside, but Howlenthehills and Matt Kakaley were out there, too, and Howlenthehills was forced five-wide to get around him. After moving past the confusion, Howlenthehills advanced quickly and was able to get to the top in front of Bonaparte (Andy McCarthy), who had also been bothered by the breaker, nearing the :28.2 quarter-mile station.
Howlenthehills continued on the point through fractions of 57 seconds to the half and 1:25.1 to three-quarters and got separation from his pursuers on the last turn. In the stretch, Armada Hanover (Tim Tetrick) was cut loose three-wide off the dull cover of Escape To America (Jason Bartlett) and finished full of pace to the wire, but Howlenthehills had a big enough jump on Armada Hanover to hold on and get the victory by a head in 1:53.3. Lous World (Todd McCarthy) also closed well after angling out off an inside trip to finish third and Escape To America also moved on to the final.
A New York-sired gelding by American Ideal, Howlenthehills, a Travis Alexander trainee, was bred by Crawford Farms and is owned by Symmetry Stables LLC. After going winless in eight tries as a two-year-old, Howlenthehills is six-for-six in 2024 and has pocketed nearly $250,000 lifetime.
He paid $3.10 to win as the 1-2 choice and keyed a $13.80 exacta and a $54.50 trifecta.
In the other elimination, Bet On Mac (Jason Bartlett), Huntingforchrome (Tyler Buter) and the Tim Tetrick-driven Janelle Granny were all quick off the gate. Huntingforchrome pressed on around Bet On Mac before the :27.1 quarter, then yielded to sit behind Janelle Granny, who raced in the North America Cup final six nights prior, after that marker. Once in control, Janelle Granny clocked the half in 56 seconds, but was challenged by a first-over Mr Three O Five (Yannick Gingras) on the way to the 1:24.4 three-quarters.
Janelle Granny was able to withstand Mr Three O Five's bid on the last turn, then got a bit of a gap on the others coming off the bend after putting him away for good. Sweet Beach Life (Matt Kakaley) tracked Mr Three O Five from second-over and did kick home strongly after swinging to the outside, but he couldn't reach Janelle Granny, coming up a neck short of the 1:52.3 winner. Mr Three O Five hung around to get third after getting rebuffed and Wish You Well (David Miller) got third to grab a spot in the final.
Scott Di Domenico trains Janelle Granny, an Ohio-sired Fear The Dragon colt bred by Larry Miller, for owner Betty Clegg. Janelle Granny has nine wins, 11 seconds and a third from 25 starts lifetime and has earned $328,502.
He returned $4.10 to win as the even-money choice. The exacta was worth $16 and the trifecta kicked back $34.40.
The finals of the Messenger and Yonkers Trot will take place on Friday, June 28 and will be joined by their companion filly events -- the Park MGM for pacers and the New York New York Mile for trotters. Fans attending the races live on June 28 will be treated to an outdoor market on the track apron. An integration of the casino and track worlds will take place as patrons from both sides of the gambling world will be welcomed to enjoy special food stands, live music and other promotional items as part of a Triple Crown Fan Fest.
Yonkers currently operating on a Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday live schedule with post time each night at 7 p.m. (EDT), but the oval will host a Wednesday program next week on June 26.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)