Buoyed by a carryover of $9,051.50, Yonkers Raceway’s Tuesday afternoon Pick 5 found an audience.
Some $22,023 of fresh money was thrown into the till, creating a total pool (after takeout) in excess of $25,000.
What made the wager even harder to handicap was the entire quintet of races were “French” trots, as in added distance (1-¼ miles) and overflow fields (twelve, eleven [after a scratch] and three tens, respectively).
The Pick 5 began with the $54,800 Open Handicap Trot, won by Crazy About Pat (Mark MacDonald, $12.20). The former New York Sire stakes champ survived a sustained wide bid to edge Il Mago (Scott Zeron) by a neck in 2:28.1 for the extra acreage. It was 6-5 favourite Luminosity (George Brennan) leading to the lane before fading to third.
When the soggy dirt settled, the combination of 1-2-8-10-2 resulted in the Pick 5 pot going unclaimed for the second consecutive card. That means the sumptuous sum of $25,569.51 gets hermetically sealed, then carried over to the next live racing program of Saturday, June 13.
Also Tuesday, a Spanish-American Friendship Trot saw the hosts perhaps get a bit too friendly, as the Spaniards finished 1-2-3. The $13,000 event was won by Jaume Riera and Amalfi Coast ($10.40) in 2:00.3. That tandem defeated Movement (Bernardo Cirer) by three-quarters of a length, with Sweet Ben (Miquel Capo) third.
As mentioned above, the Raceway now goes on hiatus, with live racing and evening simulcasting returning a week from Saturday. Afternoon simulcasting is offered daily, including this Saturday’s (June 6) Belmont Stakes (first post 11:35 a.m.).
(Yonkers Raceway)