Yonkers: Engblom 4-year-olds hoping for victory laps in MGM Grand Prix

Yonkers' leading trainer Per Engblom comes into the final weeks of the year with a lock on the title but with still plenty to gain. On Monday (December 9) Engblom sends out two of his top 4-year-olds in separate $50,000 divisions of the MGM Grand Prix Pacing Series. Both Coaches Corner and Adam Twelve have been with the stable since being purchased from Indiana connections late in their sophomore season. Coaches Corner has been the more accomplished this year and enters Monday’s third division (race 8) with over $557K banked.

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“I think that he raced against Indiana Fair horses as a 2 and 3-year-old has been to his benefit,” said Engblom of Coaches Corner, an altered son of Always A Virgin. “He’s just a solid horse that can take air and do the dirty work.” Despite some very tough trips this year Coaches Corner always seems to find his way home in the stretch with 16 one-two finishes in his 23 starts. Second in the Borgata Final earlier this year at Yonkers, Coaches Corner’s biggest win of the season came in the $250,000 Joe Gerrity Memorial at Saratoga in July.

Coaches Corner finished second in the Aria Invitational on International Trot Day at Yonkers and Engblom decided to give him a break. “When I found out they were going to have this series (MGM Grand Prix) I gave him a few weeks off to freshen him up,” said Engblom. “After the final (December 16) will get him ready for next year’s Borgata.”

On Monday Coaches Corner landed post five in the eighth race and third $50,000 MGM Grand Prix division. Already a winner and runner-up in the first two legs Coaches Corner should reach the final no matter what the outcome on Monday but don’t expect Jason Bartlett not to be his aggressive self against five rivals. The third leg of the series asked all horses to go a mile and a sixteenth with the added distance giving outside horses a longer run before hitting the first turn.

Coaches Corner will meet the hard-hitting and well-traveled Rocknroll Runa A (post 2) with Jordan Stratton guiding the Larry Stalbaum-trained veteran that likely needs a win to reach the final. El Rey (post 3) has a win and third in the first two legs of the series for trainer Andrew Harris.

Adam Twelve has been first or second 18 times this year in 26 starts and recently had an ownership change but remained with Engblom. “The owners wanted to race him in the series, and I was more than happy to have him,” said Engblom. Adam Twelve, like Coaches Corner, stormed onto the scene at Yonkers last year and was brilliant against non-winners types working his way up the class ladder. “He’s a very quick horse,” said Engblom.

Adam Twelve landed post three in the second (race 4) $50,000 division with former co-owner Yannick Gingras set to drive. Adam Twelve was just a nose shy in the first leg of the series and then was a wire-to-wire winner in the second leg on November 11.

Before joining the Engblom stable as 3-year-olds Adam Twelve and Coaches Corner raced for separate stables in Indiana with the two meeting in the Hoosier Stakes at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds as freshman in 2022 and Adam Twelve going by Coaches Corner in the stretch.

Adam Twelve faces some tough foes on Monday with the Andrew Harris-trained Seven Colors (post 2) to his inside and the durable veteran Nandolo N (post 5) hoping to duplicate his win from round one of this series.

There are no first or second-leg winners in the first $50,000 division carded as race three with the Joe Bongiorno-trained Typhoon Banner N the morning line choice having drawn the pole position. A winner seven times in 21 starts in his first full year of competition in the States, Typhoon Banner N was a pacesetting runner-up in the second leg of the series.

It’s a Me Mario has regained winning form for Team Tritton with Lauren guiding the 4-year-old by American Ideal to consecutive wins at Yonkers following a pair of off-the-board efforts in the opening MGM Grand Prix legs. It’s A Me Mario drew post three.

Covered Bridge (post 5) has just too much class to be ignored despite some of his recent finishes. A winner this year of $230K Covered Bridge was last year’s Borgata Series champion and has shown no signs of slowing down with Monday’s start scheduled to be the 31^st of the season for the Jeff Gillis trainee.

Engblom’s stable has enjoyed a career year, but the trainer suggested a bit of a shift in his approach to 2025. “I’ve only got 10 yearlings this year,” said Engblom, who had 20 a year ago. “I wanted to be able to have all of the horses at the same location.”

An interesting recent arrival into Engblom’s stable is Golden Rain S, who qualified at Harrah’s Philadelphia (December 3) in 1:56 3/5 winning by open lengths. The mare is a daughter of champion Bold Eagle from the $1.7 million winner Mystical Sunshine. “The owner sent her to me, and they are going to breed her at some time,” said Engblom. “We’ll see how she races first, and I guess they’ll either breed her next year or the following year.”