Lightning Treasure (Stephane Bouchard) and Shutter Boy (Yannick Gingras) garnered the glory Friday night, winning Yonkers Raceway's co-featured $50,000 Open Handicaps
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Lightning Treasure mapped the ideal trip in the weekly distaff derby, minding her business behind a speed duel and getting first "run" on the closers.
Leaving from post position No. 3, the 10-1 proposition watched as Lady Mach (Jason Bartlett) hung Cruzin Foralivin N (Gingras) through fractions of :27.2 and :55.4.
Bouchard then moved his lass three-deep, up and over the dueling duet before the 1:24.1 three-quarters. Lightning Treasure opened up 2-1/4 lengths out of the final turn before winning by that same margin in 1:54.
Tepid 2-1 choice Ramona Disomma (Greg Grismore) was second, with Cruzin Foralivin N hanging around for the bottom of the ticket despite a brutal trip. Jinnis Fantasy N (Cat Manzi) and Sentbytheangels (Ryan Anderson) completed the cashers.
For Lightning Treasure, a four-year-old daughter of Western Ideal trained by Pierre Couture for Lightning Stable, she returned $23.20 (sixth choice) for her 11th win in 30 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $115.50, with the triple returning $575.
"Everything worked out perfectly," Bouchard said. "She had a better post tonight, and when I asked her to move, she did."
Shutter Boy should have been renamed Shut Down Boy, as he wired the week's marquee trot under wraps.
Leaving from post No. 4, he was left to his own devices through speedy intervals of :28.3, :58.2 and 1:26.1. He has four lengths on his foes in the lane before defeating a very loose pocket New Hampshire Boy (Jeff Gregory) by 4-3/4 lengths in 1:55. Man About Town (Jordan Stratton), Chick N Tell (Bouchard) and slight 2-1 favourite Batalj Launcher (Bartlett) earned the minor spoils.
For Shutter Boy, a four-year-old Yankee Glide gelding trained by John McDermott for owner Scott Brannon, he paid $6.50 (third choice) for his seventh win in 27 '09 tries. The exacta paid $106, with the triple returning $519.
"He has a few quirks, so I had to watch him," Gingras said. "He does have some problems with breaks [three in his previous seven starts], but he felt very good tonight and I wanted to make the rest of the field have to catch him."
The time for the eased-under-the-line winner was just one-fifth of a second off the day-old, all-age track (and four-year-old gelding) record of 1:54.4, set by Baby Boy Grin (Larry Stalbaum)...though it should be noted that Baby Boy Grin was an in-hand winner as well.
(Yonkers Raceway)