Those who hung around for the latter portion of Yonkers Raceway's Monday program saw their eyeballs explode along with the tote board.
It began with the $26,500, 11th-race pace, with 56-1 shot Winter Retreat A (Dan Dube) getting up on the money to whip 5-1 Rafferty Hanover (Brent Holland) by a head in 1:53.3. Mr Salming (Larry Stalbaum) was third at 28-1.
The resulting payoffs of $114.50 and $32,626 (base $2 wager) were high local win and triple mutuels of the season to date. The exacta “only” paid $1,180, “only” because it’s not a local season’s-best.
The ensuing $14,500, 12th-race pacing finale was won by 24-1 Lexus Artist (Tyler Buter), who chased a first-up 21-1 Dawgs Buddy (Steve Smith) before beating that one by a head in 1:56. Betterthanicecream (Holland) was third at 27-1, with 9-2 African Queen (Cat Manzi) was fourth.
The $4,262 late double (Nos. 8 and 6) dwarfed 2012's previous high double ($764) and left stat meister Fred Opper scrambling to see if there was anything close for that wagering gimmick in recent - or not-so-recent - memory.
The other final-race exotics returned $657 (exacta), $4,443 (triple) and $24,040 (superfecta, base $2 wager), respectively.
(Yonkers Raceway)