YONKERS, NY, Saturday, January 28, 2017 – A repeating Caviart Luca and harness racing driver (George Brennan, bucked the front-end-is-awful trend Saturday night, repeating Yonkers Raceway's $45,000 Open Handicap Pace.
In play from post position No. 3, Caviart Luca went right down the road (:27.3, :56.2, 1:24, 1:52.2), holding off a solid, season-debuting, first-over Long Live Rock (Dan Dube) by neck. Lucan Hanover (Brent Holland) was a belated third, with Roland N Rock (Jordan Stratton) and Somewhere in LA (Matt Kakaley) also closing for the minors.
P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett) bottomed out of the pocket as the 19-10 favorite, finishing last among the octet.
For second choice Caviart Luca, a 6-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding co-owned (as Burke Racing) by (trainer) Ron Burke, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura, he's won all three of his seasonal starts. The exacta paid $58, with the triple returning $804.
Saturday featured a cavalcade of closers, as only four of the 11 horses charted with the lead entering the lane did indeed close the sale. It also featured an 'unhit' Pick 5, so Sunday afternoon's gimmick begins with a carryover of $2,436.39 (50-cent base wager, Sunday comprising races 6 through 10).
Reminder first post for Sunday's 'French' matinee is 12:30 PM.
Frank Drucker