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Hambletonian winner Marion Marauder will begin his quest for the second jewel of the Trotting Triple Crown this Saturday night (August 27), as he will lead nine three-year-olds in the lone elimination for the 62nd edition of the Yonkers Trot.
The final of the Yonkers Trot – which will be raced the following Saturday (September 3) – will feature a guaranteed purse of $500,000.
Yonkers Raceway’s signature trotting event will kick off this Saturday with a game of ‘musical chairs’ – as in one – as the $40,000 elimination will determine the eight finalists.
The alphabetical list of entrants for the Yonkers Trot elimination appears below.
Celebrity Express
Cufflink Hanover (gelding)
Gleaming Memory
Hititoutofthepark (ridgling)
Iron Mine Bucky
Lagerfeld
Marion Marauder
Smalltownthrowdown
Steed (gelding)
Marion Marauder, a Muscle Hill colt, enters with six wins a second in eight seasonal starts ($1,237,263). He had won five consecutive starts—included the elimination and $1 million final of the Hambletonian—before a first-up second in last weekend’s Colonial at Pocono Downs.
Paula Wellwood trains, keeping it in the family for co-owners Marion Wellwood and Devin Keeling. Scott Zeron again does the driving.
As a carrot at the end of a Yonkers Trot stick, the winner also gets an invitation to the $1 million Yonkers International Trot, which is scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, October 15.
This Saturday’s programs also features a pair of events for three-year-old fillies, the $118,574 Hudson Trot and $109,050 Lady Maud Pace.
The connections of eight three-year-old pacers have entered their charges to contest the 61st Messenger Stakes, which is the second leg of the Pacing Triple Crown. Racing Hill will lead a field of eight in a ‘one-dash-for-the-cash” event, which will also be raced on Saturday, September 3. The final will feature a guaranteed purse of at least $500,000.
The alphabetical list of entrants for the Messenger appears below.
Another Daily Copy
Dontcallmefrancis (gelding)
Dr J Hanover
Fernando Hanover (gelding)
Manny
Racing Hill
Stonebridge Beach
Western Fame
Racing Hill, the career seven-figure son of Roll With Joe, has been consistent to a fault this season, as he has hit the board in all of his 10 starts (four wins, five seconds, one third). He won the $500,000 Hempt Memorial (at Pocono Downs), while the victory in the $400,000 Adios (Meadows) was sandwiched around second-place efforts in the Meadowlands Pace and the Battle of the Brandywine (also at Pocono).
Tony Alagna trains the Tom hill homebred, who will be making his small-track debut.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)