The MGM Borgata Series preliminaries are in the books. Over five Mondays 18 races were conducted with generous $50,000 purses attached. Just eight horses have reached the $477,000 final on May 8 and to do so they not only had to show up in the entry box but prove their mettle on race day. Of the finalists, six of the eight managed to race in all five legs. While leading trainer Per Engblom has been a dominant presence at Yonkers over the last few seasons, he deserves incredible credit for having three members of his stable reach this year's final after qualifying two for the 2025 edition. Huntinthelastdolar and Coaches Corner were fourth and fifth, respectively, in last year's final, and they will join last year's champion Mossdale Ben N in this year's event. The five other members of the field could make this year's final one of the best. While the elimination races tended to bring out odds-on favorites, this year's final is likely to be unpredictable, and it is not likely to get any clearer once post positions are drawn on Monday (May 4). Since there is no draw to work from, we'll go over the octet in alphabetical order, starting with Captain Albano, who has the distinction of being the only finalist not to race on the front-end in any of his five series starts. Trainer Noel Daley likes the 5-year-old's chances best when he has a target to chase, and I guess good fortune had him chasing horses on two occasions in this series and coming away with victories. Following a subpar - for him - third-place finish from the rail in the opening round, Captain Albano caught odds-on favorite Redwood Hanover on the wire in the second leg, pacing a solid back-half without cover. Captain Albano ran into a buzzsaw in Mossdale Ben N and was a decent fourth in the series fastest preliminary, a 1:50 1/5 clocking in leg three on April 13.  For me it was his fourth-leg victory that indicated that Captain Albano is now on his best game. Todd McCarthy willingly surrendered the lead from the rail and allowed Sweet Beach Life and Matt Kakaley to cut a leisurely pace. As the second-half pace picked up, McCarthy didn't flinch while appearing to lose ground on the leader. There was still no panic with ground to make up on the final turn, but once McCarthy let Captain Albano pace, he made up ground quickly and measured the margin of victory with a 26 3/5 kicker. This past Monday (April 27), with Coaches Corner on the point and given respect, Jordan Stratton, subbing for McCarthy, who was out of town, had pace, guiding Captain Albano to a fourth-place finish that wasn't flashy but included a back-half near 53 flat. Coaches Corner had a slow start as well to this year's edition of the MGM Borgata but managed to squeeze in a pair of wire-to-wire performances, with Jason Bartlett getting double the respect he normally receives given his known talent over the Yonkers surface and beyond, and Coaches Corner's incredible body of work over half-mile tracks. It seems safe to say with two wins and a close second in the final three rounds of preliminary action that the addition of Lasix has helped the 6-year-old Per Engblom trainee. In Monday's (April 27) fifth leg Coaches Corner looked vulnerable when Aye Aye Captain N pulled the pocket on the final turn and met his rival on even terms. Bartlett and Coaches Corner had something in reserve off rated fractions, though, to win in 1:51 1/5. Compromised by post eight in last year's contest, Coaches Corner may be as good in 2026 as he was in 2025, but this year's field appears stronger. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Donegal Luther N is one of the reasons the field is stronger. The Jared Bako-trained 8-year-old was a winner on the front-end in the first two legs of the series but after missing round three returned and proved no match for Mossdale Ben N in the fourth leg, with Coaches Corner out-sprinting him for the place spot. In Monday's fifth leg, Stratton took him on a long first-over drive, and the son of Bettors Creek (by Bettor's Delight) displayed a ruggedness, not just passing the leader and finalist Soho Firestone A, but holding off Bartlett and Redwood Hanover in the stretch despite that one having a perfect trip. Donegal Luther N won in 1:52 for the second time in the series, and perhaps the only question mark about his talent is whether he can get to the 1:50 level likely required for the final. Trainer Travis Alexander had to be happy with the way Howlenthehills has improved with each start in the series, and the 5-year-old son of American Ideal finished the final preliminary round in fine style. Matt Kakaley was able to weave through traffic to pick up a second-place finish behind Coaches Corner, out-sprinting some solid rivals, including Captain Albano. Howlenthehills' lone preliminary victory came in the fourth leg against a field that was missing some of the major stars. First or second in more than half of his 50 career starts, Howlenthehills will need a lot of racing luck to pull off the upset. Three-leg winner Huntinthelastdolar overcame post six and Mossdale Ben N to capture his third MGM Borgata leg this past Monday, giving him two wins in the series over last year's champion. That said, on April 13 when the two met in the third leg of the series, Mossdale Ben N left Huntinthelastdolar in the dust on the final turn while pacing home in 27 2/5. The fifth-leg victory was by a scant nose, with Huntinthelastdolar getting all the fractions his own way and Jimmy Marohn Jr. reserving Mossdale Ben N until the final quarter. With 26 career wins and over $1.2 million in earnings, Huntinthelastdolar has the credentials. Mossdale Ben N has made an impressive return for trainer Peter Tritton, and it would be fair to say that driver Jimmy Marohn Jr. has had something to say about the outcome. Marohn's aggressiveness, at least in legs three and four when he raced the 8-year-old son of A Rocknroll Dance on the front-end, has paid off handsomely. There was a moment in leg three where Mossdale Ben N didn't make it through the final turn cleanly and may have deserved a disqualification, but he certainly earned the 1:50 1/5 career-best clocking while setting all the fractions. Last year, as a confirmed closer, he managed to come from seventh at the half for the win. This year Mossdale Ben N can do it either way, and that likely makes him the horse to beat. Of Per Engblom's three finalists, Redwood Hanover, although a two-leg winner, is likely third-best based on the level of the fields he beat within the series. While not needing a win in the third leg, Redwood Hanover should have been able to chase down Donegal Luther N in the stretch, and the fact he didn't may be a sign that the grueling series has taken its toll. Soho Firestone A is last alphabetically, and one must wonder whether his disappointing finish in Monday's (April 27) last leg is a sign of fatigue or perhaps catch-driver Colin Kelly getting him down to the half too quickly. Soho Firestone A's two series victories came against weaker competition, so his overall class is likely to be tested in the final, a race he'll need a big bounce back to be competitive. Though there were many short fields throughout the five preliminary legs, post position is still a major factor over the Yonkers strip. Two-thirds (12) of the 18 divisions were won by horses that drew posts 1-3. Only one horse won from posts 6-8 while there were few starters. No matter how the pills shake out for the MGM Borgata final, the race figures to be the best we've seen in 2026.