A six pack of $50,000 divisions have been drawn for Saturday night's opening round of Yonkers Raceway's George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series
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A total of 42 (from a talent pool of 51) of the best older horses in training are scheduled to compete in Races 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9.
Here’s a quick glimpse at the happy half-dozen:
First division: Strand Hanover (Brian Sears, post 4) hits town off consecutive wins and board finishes in his last five starts, while Mac Raider N (George Brennan, post 1) and Art Two D Two (Tyler Buter, post 2) are both recent local winners.
Second division: Reibercrombie (Sears, post 6) won a leg of Woodbine's Cam Fella Series. He takes on Westchester standouts Code Word (Yannick Gingras, post 1) and Foreign Officer (Tim Tetrick, post 2), along with double-millionaire One More Laugh (Ray Schnittker, post 5).
Third division: Clear Vision (Gingras, post 2) and his $900,000-plus career bankroll opposes the likes of Fitzs Z Tam (Sears, post 3), who has flashed high speed in both Yonkers starts.
Fourth division: Southern Allie (Gingras, post 3), a series standout a season ago, winds up outside Summer Camp (Jason Bartlett, post 1) - an Open Handicap winner at first local asking - and Art Z (Brett Miller, post 2), off a 15-1 upset in the final of Meadowlands' Four Leaf Clover Series.
Fifth division: Rock To Glory (Eric Goodell, post 5), who co-owns the fastest local mile of the season (1:51.3) is in against millionaire Atochia (Gingras, post 3) and River Shark (Mark MacDonald, post 6), already with four 2012 wins.
Sixth division: An early series mano-a-mano between 2011 series champ Real Nice (Bartlett, post 5) and triple-millionaire Foiled Again (Gingras, post 6), who won this event in 2009 and 2010. The latter, with 58 career wins, is making his seasonal debut.
Both the Levy and its fairer-sex companion event, the Blue Chip Matchmaker (which begins Friday night), offer five preliminary rounds, with the finals (and their respective consolations) scheduled for Saturday, April 28.
(Yonkers Raceway)