Yonkers: Ari Ferrari J burns rubber in Bob Miecuna Invitational Trot

Ari Ferrari J was the winner of Saturday afternoon's $250,000 Bob Miecuna Invitational for older trotters on Saturday afternoon after he covered the mile and a sixteenth distance in 2:00 4/5. With his share of the purse, Ari Ferrari J went past the $1 million mark in lifetime earnings.

After showing some speed from post two, driver Jason Bartlett wheeled Ari Ferrari J to the outside in the early stages from third and made his way by early leader Cecil Hanover (driven by Ake Svanstedt) past the 29 second opening quarter. Ari Ferrari J never faced a serious threat from there, as he glided through panels of 57 4/5 and 1:26 on his way to the win by two lengths. Cecil Hanover checked in second over Take All Comers (Jordan Stratton) and favored M-M's Dream (David Miller) advanced from eighth to fourth. Amigo Volo (Dexter Dunn) collected fifth.

"Being off the inside there, the gate kind of takes off on us and at times you can just give them their head a little bit and they'll try to switch gears and run," explained Bartlett. "So, I was more worried about just getting him off on the right foot and then just taking the race how it came. Only a couple left, so I was actually in a really good spot going into the first turn.

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"He won so easy last time out of the hole, and I was very excited when I saw he was in this race today. He had a start over the track and I kind of knew him at the Meadowlands and loved him there and loved him last week. We actually drew a good spot and he didn't disappoint."

Tony Alagna trains Ari Ferrari J, a 4-year-old son of Walner bred by M Biasuzzi Stable Inc., for owner Ken Jacobs. Ari Ferrari J is an 11-time victor from 39 starts, has earned $1,014,931 and paid $16.00 to win as a 7-1 offering. The exacta was $156.50 and the trifecta was worth $2,841.00.

--press release (Yonkers)--