Yonkers Raceway's pair of humid Friday night $46,000 Open Handicaps - a pace for ladies and a trot for either/or - were won by Royal Cee Cee N and Monsignor Flan.
Royal Cee Cee N, assigned post seven as the 9-5 favorite, worked around Brownville Bomber (Dan Dube), grabbing the lead right at the :28.1 opening quarter-mile. After a spongy, :29.1 second interval (:57.2 half), Darena Hanover (George Brennan) moved from fifth, offering just a mild intrusion in and out of a 1::25.3 three-quarters.
Royal Cee Cee N owned and length-and-a-half lead into the lane, then maintained that margin to the wire in 1:53.2 for driver Jordan Stratton. Brownsville Bomber completed a two-speed number, with Its De Lovely (Brian Sears), Matchmaker victress Feeling You (Eric Goodell) and Four Starz Roe (Jason Bartlett) grabbing the remainder.
For Royal Cee Cee N, a seven-year-old Down Under daughter of Christian Cullen owned and trained by Mark Harder, it was her fifth win (second consecutive) in 15 seasonal starts. She paid $5.70.
Monsignor Flan, from post six, took on all comers for driver Brent Holland and held off all comers in a season's best-matching 1:55.1.
He made the lead from Somebody AS (Jeff Gregory) before a zippy, :27.3 opening quarter. After a :56.3 intermission, outside assignees Little Brown Fox (Sears) and last week’s winner, Tall Cotton (Brennan) - each of whom having found early seats - were first- and second-up. Monsignor Flan found a 1:25.4 three-quarters, taking a three-quarter length lead in and out of the final turn.
The cavalry was coming from all sides, but Monsignor Flan hung in there. He nipped a second-up Tall Cotton by a nose, with Little Brown Fox, as the 8-5 fave, third. A knifing-through Lorenzo Dream (Jim Pantaleano) and Somebody AS settled for small change in a race where the first four finishers were divided by a neck and five payees were separated by a half-length at the wire.
For second choice Monsignor Flan, a six-year-old S Js Photo homebred gelding owned by Tanah Merah Farms and trained by Erv Miller, he's now 6-for-22 this season.
Friday's card also included the fourth (final) round of the "Jackpot Next Door" Claiming Series for $20,000 claiming pacers. Next Friday's finals go for $76,000 (boys) and $59,500 (girls), respectively.
Saturday night's card features a pair of $40,000 eliminations for the 59th Yonkers Trot – the first jewel of the Trotting Triple Crown - as well as the $111,250 final of the Lawrence B. Sheppard Pace (two-year-old colts and geldings).
(Yonkers Raceway)