Gotthegreenlight Paces Into Yonkers Record Book

Gotthegreenlight
Published: July 12, 2022 11:02 pm EDT

One of the longest-standing track records at Yonkers Raceway fell on Tuesday night when Gotthegreenlight won the second of two $85,500 New York Sire Stakes divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies in 1:51.3, knocking a fifth of a second off the 1:51.4 mark that Charisma Hanover set back on October 26, 2013. Patsville captured the other section.

Coming off a dead-heat victory with Wine N Dine Me in the Park MGM Pace final at Yonkers on July 1, Gotthegreenlight (Jason Bartlett) settled in third in the early going but wheeled to the outside as the fillies raced in the backstretch for the first time and brushed past early pace-setter A Girl That Twirls (Brian Sears) after the :26.3 opening quarter. From there, Gotthegreenlight hit the half in :56 and the three-quarters in 1:24, with Just Divine (Joe Bongiorno) trying to advance first-over out of third heading to the latter marker.

Just Divine's bid stalled out in second on the last turn as Gotthegreenlight accelerated, and there would be no sharing of top honours for Gotthegreenlight on this night, as she used a :27.3 last quarter to defeat Just Divine by 2-1/2 lengths. The above-mentioned Wine N Dine Me (Tim Tetrick) got up to finish third.

An American Ideal filly who was the NYSS champion for this group a year ago, Gotthegreenlight is trained by Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman for owners Patricia Stable and Kovach Stables LLC. Bred by Stephen Dey III, Gotthegreenlight has compiled a record of 12-1-0 from 18 lifetime starts, has now earned $397,212, and paid $2.80 to win.

Back in the opening split, American Ticket (Mark MacDonald) went to the top from post six and led her rivals through fractions of :27.3, :56.2, and 1:24.2. Lee Loo (Tim Tetrick) tipped out first-over from fourth on the third turn, and Patsville (Tyler Buter), who had landed third from the pole position, had plenty of room to angle out and follow Lee Loo after getting passed.

Lee Loo was able to sustain her bid around the last turn and into the lane, and she wrestled the lead away from American Ticket in the upper part of the stretch. However, Patsville was finishing well to Lee Loo's outside and pocket-sitter Kele Kele (Matt Kakaley) also kicked through on the inside from the pocket, and at the wire, it would be Patsville who tallied by a length and a quarter in 1:53. Kele Kele was next, followed by Lee Loo and Valar Dohaeris (Dan Dube), who wound up in a dead-heat for third.

John Butenschoen trains Patsville, a daughter of Huntsville bred by Ross Bonafield, for owners William C. De Long and William P. De Long. Patsville is now a six-time winner from 16 career appearances, and she has now pocketed $129,369. She returned $6.10 to win.

Winning the three $15,000 New York Excelsior "A" Series races for sophomore pacing fillies that took place on the card were Nite Time Deal in 1:53.1, Dudes Sweet Bet in 1:53.3 and Nadina Hanover in 1:53.

Stakes action resumes on Saturday (July 16) at Yonkers with the $100,000 final of the MGM Springfield Stakes for two-year-old male pacers. Here’s the field:

1. Music Hall - Jason Bartlett - Michael Hall
2. Captain Mikey - Jordan Stratton - Jake Huff
3. Married Man - TBA - Francis Raia II
4. Major Decision - TBA - Francis Raia II
5. Downrightdelicious - Matt Kakaley - Travis Alexander

Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday-Saturday live racing schedule with post time at 6:55 p.m.

(Yonkers Raceway)

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