For the first time in 2021, Yonkers Raceway will play host to stakes action next Tuesday (March 2) and Wednesday (March 3) as the M Life Rewards Ladies and M Life Rewards Gents Series begin. Both events are for three-year-old and four-year-old pacers who were non-winners of four races and/or $50,000 through December 1, 2020.
The fillies kick things off on Tuesday night with three $15,000 divisions. Pettycoat Business, a four-year-old daughter of Art Major who won her Empire Breeders Classic elimination last year and also raced in events like the Breeders Crown and Courageous Lady, has drawn post six in the opening eight-horse grouping (race one), with George Brennan listed to drive for trainer Scott Di Domenico. She meets up with the likes of Even Louder (post three, Jason Bartlett/Nick Devita), a 1:53 winner this year at Pompano Park.
Dragon Roll (post five, Bartlett/Ricky Bucci) heads up the second split in race three. Dragon Roll, a four-year-old Roll With Joe mare, was a regular on the New York Sire Stakes circuit as a rookie and a sophomore, and has missed the board just once in five starts in 2021, sporting a 1-1-2 record. Her win came at Yonkers in a non-winners of three event on February 17.
The M Life Rewards Ladies Series action for Tuesday concludes in race four. Trainer Ron Burke sends out Turnthefrownaround (post two, Brennan), who, like Dragon Roll, also has a win, a second, and two thirds thus far in her four-year-old campaign. Another Roll With Joe mare, Turnthefrownaround took a non-winners of four race in gate-to-wire fashion in Westchester on the 17th of February. Somebeachsomefra (post three, Scott Zeron/Deborah Daguet), a four-year-old daughter of Somebeachsomewhere, has also been performing well with a couple wins from four efforts this year.
Wednesday’s M Life Rewards Gents Series will see four divisions go behind the gate in races one, three, four, and five.
In the first split, just one horse has a victory so far this year, that being four-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding Surfer Beach (post six, Austin Siegelman/Jaymes McAssey), who prevailed in 1:52.4 at Dover on January 21, but Scootnroll (post four, Tyler Buter/Todd Buter) went 10-for-17 in the win column in 2020, and the four-year-old gelding by Roll With Joe will be looking to get back to his victorious ways.
Got The Mojo (post four, Matt Kakaley/Eric Ell), a four-year-old Sportswriter gelding, posted two victories in three attempts at Dover Downs this year, and in the second section he hooks up with a couple of local winners from 2021 in four-year-old Rockin Image gelding Odds On Brexit (post one, Tyler Buter/Chris Freck) and Retour Au Jeu (post two, Jordan Stratton/Dennis Laterza), a four-year-old gelding by Hes Watching.
The third division will see a matchup between a couple of sharp horses in Cigar Smoking Tony (post four, Bartlett/Jose Godinez), a four-year-old son of Art Major, and Lous Sweetrevenge (post six, Brennan/Burke), a four-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou. Cigar Smoking Tony has two wins and a second from three starts in 2021, and Lou’s Sweetrevenge sports a record of 2-0-2 from four trips behind the gate.
The final flight is led by four-year-old Roll With Joe gelding My Pal Joe (post five). Trained and driven by Alek Chartrand, My Pal Joe has three victories, a second, and a third from five starts in 2021. He took a mark of 1:49.4 at the Meadowlands on January 2. Dragon Said (post one, Joe Bongiorno/Jenn Bongiorno) and Sweet Truth (post seven, Zeron/Thomas Corelli) have also won races this year.
The M Life Rewards Ladies and M Life Rewards Gents Series both have a total of three preliminary legs. The Ladies final is slated for Tuesday, March 23, with the Gents final the following night.
Both next Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s ten-race cards at Yonkers get underway at 7:15 p.m.
(Yonkers)