Yonkers: Opening legs drawn for Matchmaker, Levy
The big girls and big boys come to play this weekend, with Yonkers Raceway hosting the opening round of both the Blue Chip Matchmaker and George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
Friday night (March 15th) finds five, $40,000 divisions of the Matchmaker for leading pacing mares, going consecutively as races five through nine.
Defending series champ Shartin begins her 6-year-old season with post position No. 2 in the final event. Tim Tetrick takes his usual seat for co-owners himself, Richard Pollucci and Jo Ann Looney-King. Keeping it in the family, Jim King Jr. trains the lass, fresh off an 19-for-24, million-dollar season.
Saturday evening (March 16th) the Levy does the Matchmaker one better, with six, $50,000 groupings (races 4 through 9) for the Free-For-All folks.
Double-millionaire 10-year-old Bit of a Legend, the 2016 Levy winner, begins this season’s marathon from behind the eight-ball in the third division. Jordan Stratton again does the honors for owner Von Knoblauch Stables and trainer Peter Tritton.
Each series offers five prelim rounds leading to the finales, both set for Saturday night, Apr. 20th.
Collmus calls on Monday
He’s called a pair of historic thoroughbred champions and countless Breeders’ Cups, but the career of Larry Collmus was officially made Monday night (March 11th).
That’s because the popular voice of the New York Racing Association and the Triple Crown stopped by Yonkers Raceway to see how the other half lives.
Collmus, a friend of Yonkers’ track announcer John Hernan, visited the booth and, by his own admission, “called my first harness race in about five years.”
We can’t swear Miss You N’s handy, third-race romp as an odds-on favorite is going to make anyone forget either American Pharoah or Justify, but Collmus handled the pacers with expected aplomb (see accompanying link here…https://youtu.be/k2otMtFmE2s).
“It was a lot of fun,” Collmus said after he watched a subsequent race inside the starting car. “I’ve been a fan of harness racing from my time in California and I really enjoy it.”
Monday night’s dozen-race handle was $1,016,636, Yonkers’ second consecutive million-dollar Monday and third seven-figure session of the season.
-edited release (Frank Drucker for Yonkers)