Sometimes success is a matter of what can and what can’t be done. A look into Saturday’s $1 million Yonkers International Trot afternoon is a pretty fair indicator of the kind of racing that can be brought to the public with thought and hard work. It’s fair to say that Yonkers did everything within their power to bring the best horses from around the world to their track to go the mile and one-quarter distance. After the dust had settled, the success was that they were able to accommodate Twister Bi and his connections, and the result was a breathtaking example of just how far the breed has come. The son of Varenne kicked into full sprint after traveling at a pretty lively pace on the outside for three quarters of a mile. That turn of foot against theoretically the best horses in the world was earth-shattering, but explained in genuine terms after the event by Christoffer Eriksson, his driver. “His technique,” is how the driver explained the ability of the horse to carry his extreme speed through a sharp turn. Sprinting and racing on the outside is commonplace in Europe, but in 39 years of the International Trot no horse has come close to what Twister Bi accomplished on Saturday. Give credit to winning trainer Jerry Riordan for putting it all in perspective. He clearly suggested following the victory that there were enough horses that could have kept close company with Twister Bi in the racing world. Unfortunately for the wagering public, those horses remained in Europe on Saturday. What made the International, even with 10 horses, far from the best wagering event, was perhaps the incredible form of its champion that had not gone unnoticed in Europe or in reports that were carried back to the mainland. In the olden days, few in North America had a clue of past performances from overseas, but the exact opposite was in effect on Saturday as Twister Bi’s current form was rich and noticeable (including his cutting a 1:50 rated mile) while the past performances of the North American contingent was suspect to say the least. Resolve, the defending champion, had not raced since a disappointing effort in the Canadian Trotting Classic. Marion Marauder, last year’s Triple Crown winner, joined Resolve on the sidelines for the Trotting Classic final after being unable to qualify for it. In Secret, the other American entry, earned his way in with local success, but clearly that level of competition is hard to quantify on a national or international scale. The International gave us one great horse but not enough buzz-worthy rivals to create a larger betting vehicle. It’s a challenge for an entire year to plan out a $1 million race and have everything work out to the optimal level. In 2017, Twister Bi was the best by far of the horses assembled. It’s unfortunate there were no other horses in his class on Saturday, but that may just be a result of the condition of our aged ranks this year and be something easily remedied in next year’s crop. Let’s hope for that. While the International may have been slightly one-sided, the same couldn’t be said for the $250,000 Dan Rooney Invitational Pace. It’s hard to believe that two half-mile tracks, both in New York state, could put together eight-horse fields of elite pacers during the same racing season and provide racing fans with thrills each second of a 1:51 and change mile. Yet that’s exactly what we have found first through the thrilling Joe Gerrity Memorial at Saratoga in July and nearly three months later in the Dan Rooney. Racing secretary Steve Starr was fortunate to get commitments from six of the eight horses that raced in the Gerrity for the Rooney and they were the crucial pieces that created a masterpiece of a horse race and the action that horse racing fans and gamblers love to see. As in the Gerrity, with a large purse there was serious action on the first turn. Perhaps a little less activity than in the Gerrity but nonetheless aggressiveness in the form of Jody Jamieson from the inside track with Sintra and Yonkers stalwarts Somewhere In L A with Jason Bartlett and Gerrity champion Bit Of A Legend N with Jordan Stratton. Credit Stratton for recognizing that he could not possibly win this race from post six from off the pace. Bartlett’s Somewhere In L A lacked the angle from post two to out-foot Sintra. Bit Of A Legend N and Stratton were able to get around Sintra, but not until they had blistered an opening quarter. What happened from that pole is something hardly ever seen at Yonkers in that Bartlett picked up the lines from the three-hole and got moving before the field came out of turn two. A three-hole on most nights of open competition is usually a comfortable spot to take home a good check from, but on Saturday Bartlett and Somewhere In L A were interested in winning and that wasn’t going to happen if he let Big Of A Legend N get away with soft fractions. The bitter middle half struggle between Somewhere In L A and Bit Of A Legend N took the best out of both and set the table for a pair of closers in Keystone Velocity and the eventual winner All Bets Off. On this afternoon the second and third-over horses got the benefit of incredible mid-race action. In the Dan Rooney, Steve Starr was able to lure the best available horses to the racetrack due to the size of the purse he could offer, which was five times the money these horses generally race for on a Saturday night. That was enough to get every driver and horse motivated. It kind of makes you wonder, what’s the point of getting one-fifth the racing action for $50,000 a week when you can offer $250,000 once a month and give racing fans what they have been craving?