Sir Pinocchio, Ari Ferrari J and Take All Comers were victorious in Friday night's (November 21) trio of $50,000 divisions of the opening leg of this year's MGM Grand Prix Trotting Series at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Last year's MGM Yonkers Trot champion Sir Pinocchio (Jason Bartlett) led his six foes through panels of 28, 57 1/5 and 1:25 4/5 in the opening flight and then dug in through the lane to fend off pocket-sitter and 2-5 favorite Antognoni S (Yannick Gingras) by a head in a 1:53 3/5 mile. Ultion Face S (Tyler Buter) was the third-place finisher.
That time of 1:53 3/5 was a fifth of a second better than the previous standard for a 4-year-old gelding trotter at Yonkers, which had belonged to I'm The Muscle and Rich And Miserable since September 2019.
By Met's Hall, Sir Pinocchio is trained by Ed Hart for owner/breeder Carolyn Atherton. This was his 19th career victory, he has now earned $886,934 and paid $6.42 to win as the 2-1 second choice. The exacta was $11.16 and the trifecta $20.34.
The complexion of the second grouping changed on the first turn when 1-9 favorite Periculum (Scott Zeron) went off-stride. With Periculum no longer in contention, Bartlett and Ari Ferrari J were on top at the 28 second quarter, 57 3/5 half and 1:26 three-quarters, and a 29 1/5 final kicker got them to the wire half a length ahead of a closing Asteroid (Colin Kelly). Cecil Hanover (Gingras) had room on the inside in the stretch from the pocket but had to settle for third.
Tony Alagna trains Ari Ferrari J, a 5-year-old Walner stallion bred by M Biasuzzi Stales Inc., for owner Ken Jacobs. He has a summary of 16-14-5 from 57 tries, has pocketed $1,224,562 and returned $14.70 to win as the 6-1 second choice. He was atop a $57.30 exacta and a $246.32 trifecta.
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Take All Comers (Todd McCarthy), who won the final of this series a year ago, started his title defense with a 1:55 triumph in the final split. He tracked Southwind Coors (Gingras) from the pocket to the 28 4/5 quarter and 57 2/5 half, then edged to the outside as Southwind Coors hit three-quarters in 1:26. Take All Comers advanced to challenge Southwind Coors on the final bend and then forged his way by in the lane to get the job done by a neck. Dire Straits (Zeron) checked in third.
Jim Campbell sent out Take All Comers, a 7-year-old gelded son of Creatine, for owner/breeder Runthetable Stables. Take All Comers has 23 wins, 14 seconds and 11 thirds from 77 starts, has banked $1,164,801 and paid $3.50 to win as the favorite. He keyed an $8 exacta and a $27.68 trifecta.
Two additional preliminary rounds in this series will take place on Friday, December 5 and Friday, December 12. Points for the series will be earned on a 50-25-12-8-5 scale (winner gets 50 points, runner-up gets 25, etc.). The top 10 point earners get a spot in the $250,000, 1 1/4 mile final, while the next 10 point earners go in the $75,000, 1 1/4 mile consolation on the same card.
The other big news from Friday's program was that the Pick 5 was not hit, leading to a $10,459.69 carryover and a $25,000 guaranteed pool in the sequence when racing resumes on Monday (November 24).
The guarantee in the Pick 5 is being offered as part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program and free Harness Eye past performances for the Pick 5 are available here. The Pick 5, which begins in race five and has a $1 minimum, has a takeout rate of 20 percent.
In addition to the Pick 5 carryover and guaranteed pool, Monday night's program also has four $50,000 divisions of the first leg of the MGM Grand Prix Pacing Series in races three, five, seven and nine.
MGM Yonkers Raceway is operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time each night at 6:45 p.m. (EST), though Yonkers will only race on Monday (November 24) and Tuesday (November 25) next week before the oval goes dark Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving.
--press release (Yonkers)--