Zakocity wins Discovery

Zakocity won the first stakes of his career in Wednesday's $110,100 at Aqueduct before a crowd of 2,693 on opening day of the fall meet.

Under Javier Castellano, Zakocity was 3 1/2-length winner over Stolen Time. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Mahzouz in third. My Snookie's Boy, the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds, finished sixth in the eight-horse field.

Zakocity, who controlled the pace through comfortable fractions, covered the distance in 1:49.78 over a fast track.

Pat Reynolds trains Zakocity ($15) for Paul Pompa Jr.

Fans attending the opening-day card were faced with myriad problems placing wagers through United Tote, the new bet-taking contractor. Wednesday was the first day the tote system was up and running, and problems cropped up throughout the day.

Bill Nader, the senior vice president at the New York Racing Association, said one of the major snafus centered on the self-automated betting machines, which were inoperable.

"We'll have a meeting [Wednesday] night or [Thursday] morning to identify the issues and correct the problems quickly," Nader said.