Showing great closing speed after a three-wide move in the backstretch, Italy’s Zacon Gio pulled away in the stretch to win the $1 million Yonkers International Trot at Yonkers Raceway.
Driven by Roberto Vecchione, Zacon Gio is a world champion four-year-old stallion by Ruty Grif and is undefeated in 2019 after nine starts.
The seventh race feature at 1 ¼ mile started off with USA’s Atlanta (Yannick Gingras), out trotting Switzerland’s Uza Josselyn (Erik Adielsson) for control of the early lead going to the opening quarter mile in :28.1. Denmark’s Slide So Easy (Ake Svanstedt) was sitting in third place behind Atlanta.
Past the half mile marker in a slow :59.1, Atlanta was still firmly in command with Uza Josselyn parked on the outside as Zacon Gio and Vecchione was second over in the flow to the three-quarters in 1:28.
It was then that Vecchione asked Zacon Gio to go three-wide and his trotter took off, looped around Uza Josselyn and at the mile marker in 1:55.4, had collared Atlanta. Zacon Gio then cleared to the lead and went on to win by three and one-quarter lengths in 2:24.1. Slide So Easy was second with Marion Marauder (Scott Zeron) third.
It was the 11th straight win for Zacon Gio, who is trained by Holger Ehlert and owned by Franco Giuseppe of Napoli, Italy. He paid $4.30 to win.
“I saw that Uza Josselyn was not going to get the lead so I stay on the outside,” said winning driver Roberto Vecchione. “Once I cleared to the lead, I knew that we would bring it home. He has won 11 races in a row and some of those races were world record miles. He showed he has the potential to win this race. I credit his trainer for keeping him in good shape all season.”
The $250,000 Harry Harvey Memorial Trot took place in the eighth race at 1 ¼ mile and early on it was Will Take Charge (Jordan Stratton) out dueling Emoticon Hanover (Daniel Dube) for the lead by the opening quarter mile in :28.
Rich And Miserable (Tyler Buter) came first-over going to the half mile in :56.2 with Mission Accepted (Yannick Gingras) grabbing the second-over cover on the outside.
Past the three-quarters in 1:26, Rich And Miserable began to show he was tiring and by the mile in 1:54.4, he began to quit as Mission Accepted moved to first-over and came after Will Take Charge.
Down the stretch Mission Accepted was the strong horse, going on to win going away by two and three-quarter lengths in 2:23.4, which was two fifths of a second faster than the International Trot went in. Custom Cantab (David Miller) closed well to be second with Will Take Charge third.
It was the fifth win this year for Mission Accepted. The four-year-old stallion by Manofmanymissions is trained by Ron Burke and is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services and D. Wills and Weaver-Bruscemi. He paid $5.90 to win.
For full results and entries, click here.
By Steve Wolf, for Harneslink