Yonkers Raceway’s Friday night $44,000 co-featured Open Handicaps -- for distaff pacers and all certifiably-credentialed trotters -- were won by wagering choices Monkey On My Wheel (Brian Sears, $4.90) and Somebody As (Dan Dube, $6.60).
Monkey On My Wheel left for a seat from post position No. 6. She saw Summertime Lea (George Brennan) take over from My Ideal Hanover (Larry Stalbaum) before a :27.2 opening quarter-mile. However, a protracted move to the front by Monkey On My Wheel gave her the lead before a :56.1 intermission.
From there, some first-up pressure by Fashion Mystery (Eric Carlson) through a :27.3 third quarter (1:23.4) might have softened Monkey On My Wheel a bit. She owned a length and a half lead into the lane, but was getting leg-weary late.
However, the class of the O'Brien Award winning lass showed up, and 'Monkey' held sway by a half-length in 1:52.1. Summertime Lea held second, with Virgin Mary (Eric Goodell) closing from seventh to grab third. Rockaround Sue (Jason Bartlett) and Robin Cruiser (Jordan Stratton) came away with the minor moolah. The first five finishers were separated by three-quarters of a length.
For Monkey On My Wheel, a six-year-old homebred millionaress daughter of Mach Three owned by Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont. and trained by Casie Coleman, the win was her ninth (30th lifetime) in 21 seasonal starts. The exacta (two wagering favourites) paid $11.60, with the triple returning $145.50.
The week’s marquee trot saw invading Somebody As -- from post No. 2 -- sit pocketed to inside assignee Son Of Nordic (Goodell). That one led to the lane off intervals of :27.4, :57 and 1:25.2, dismissing the weak advances from Neighsay Hanover (Stratton).
'Nordic' had a length and a half in and out of the final turn, but company was coming. Somebody As snuck inside, getting to the wire a half-length ahead of a third-up Bound For Fame (Brent Holland) in 1:55. Lorenzo Dream (Sears) rallied for third, with Tober (Bartlett) and Hoorayforvacation (Carlson) settling for the remainder.
Somebody As is a five-year-old Striking Sahbra gelding trained by Annette Lorentzon for co-owners Acl Stuteri Ab and Kjell Johansson. He’s now three-for-12 this season. The exacta paid $35.60, the triple returned $368.50 and the superfecta paid $1,796.
As for Friday’s Pick 5, $28,934.05 was wagered into a double carryover of $11,305.67, with the resulting combination of 5-6-1-2-4 paying $2,086.25 for every winning half-dollar.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)