Yonkers: Razzle Dazzle spoils Burke sweep in Levy series

For a moment it seemed as if trainer Ron Burke was going to sweep all four divisions of the George Morton Levy series at Yonkers on Saturday night. Then the unexpected happened. Razzle Dazzle came from out of the clouds to track down Burke’s formerly unbeaten Levy series star Something For Doc in the stretch and set up a very interesting final preliminary round on April 20.

Something For Doc was sent off as the 1-2 favorite on the strength of three impressive Levy leg victories as well as the support of leading trainer Ron Burke and the coveted rail position. Yet at the outset of the race it seemed obvious that no one was going to let him go easily. Brent Holland aboard 55-1 shot Sapphire City jetted to the front at the start and left all six rivals in the dust through the opening turn. Yannick Gingras, behind Something For Doc, was looking for his third Levy victory of the evening and had to work hard to regain the lead through a spirited :26 4/5 opening quarter. Once settled on the lead, it looked like another routine mile as the favorite stalled the half to a comfortable :56 2/5.

That’s when things started to pick up rapidly. Eric Goodell, driving leg winner Rockincam, sensed the urgency of the moment. His six-year-old had missed the first leg and needed a big mile to have a chance for the final. Goodell sent Rockincam at the favorite and the two locked horns through a :26 4/5 individual third quarter.

Through the final turn the stiff battle continued with Razzle Dazzle trailing the field and staying behind the cover of Casimir Jitterbug. In the stretch, Something For Doc put away one rival but felt the pressure on both fronts, with Sapphire City rallying menacingly along the rail and Razzle Dazzle gaining momentum on the far outside.

Brian Sears timed his move just right for the 12-1 Razzle Dazzle as he stormed over the favorite and put his nose in front of Sapphire City on the wire in 1:51 4/5. Something For Doc finished third.

The victory, the second in three Levy appearances for Razzle Dazzle, now gives him a serious chance at reaching the final.

Earlier in the card, Gingras and Burke scored decisive victories with Annieswesterncard in 1:51 4/5 and Foiled Again in 1:52 3/5. The two returned $2.40 and $2.30 respectively as odds-on choices in a pair of $50,000 divisions.

In the first Levy division, Gingras and last year’s Levy champion Atochia appeared to be on their way to an easy victory sitting off a contested pace and sweeping to the lead into the stretch. But the now eight-year-old Atochia couldn’t hold off stablemate and entrymate Clear Vision. George Brennan had cleverly carved out an inside journey for Clear Vision and after sitting off hot fractions of :26 2/5, :54 1/5 and 1:23 1/5 set by E Z Noah, was able to angle out late on the final turn and storm past the leader. Clear Vision won for the first time in 2013 in a 1:52 mile.