“The owners called me the other day and I thought they were pulling my leg. People don’t usually call you with one like this."
Beach Memories, P H Supercam, and Polak A will try to remain unbeaten in the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series on Saturday at Yonkers Raceway, but Beach Memories will do it from a new barn. The five-year-old pacer has moved from the stable of trainer Ron Burke to trainer Scott DiDomenico.
Saturday’s third round of the Levy Series features four divisions, with P H Supercam competing in the first division, Polak A in the third and Beach Memories in the fourth. All three horses are 2-for-2 in the series and tied for the top spot in the series standings.
A trainer can enter only one horse per preliminary-round division, and later only two in each of the series final and consolation, and Burke co-owns four Levy participants –- Bettors Edge, Clear Vision, Foiled Again, and Take It Back Terry –- in addition to training Beach Memories for owners Strollin Stable, AWS Stables, King McNamara, and Country Club Acres Inc.
Country Club Acres’ Jim Koehler said Burke suggested the barn change for Beach Memories and recommended DiDomenico. Burke trained previous Strollin Stable and Country Club Acres standout Won The West.
“I’m sure if the (series) conditions were different, he’d keep the horse,” Koehler said. “But he was getting concerned about being able to race all the horses if there were fewer divisions. He owns all those other horses (in the series). I don’t blame him for that. He’s always treated us very fairly. He’s an amazing guy.”
Beach Memories has won two of five races this year and earned $65,300. For his career, the son of Somebeachsomewhere-Allamerican Memoir has won 16 of 61 starts and $600,404. The gelding, who captured the 2013 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship, was trained by Brian Brown until last November.
“I don’t think he’s a Won The West, you don’t find two or three of them, but I know he’s got potential,” Koehler said. “If he gets the lead, he’s tough to pass.
“I think the (Levy) is one of the most interesting series in harness racing,” he added. “It’s a lot of fun. We just hope we race well.”
Beach Memories won both his Levy prelims by a neck; the first in 1:52.2 and last week in 1:53. He drew post five in Saturday’s third round.
"It’s pretty neat to get a horse like this,” DiDomenico said. "Fortunately Ronnie has a lot of quality horses and fortunately I was the one to get the call."
P H Supercam drew post two in his third-round division, which includes no other horse in the Levy’s top 10. He is trained by Jeff Bamond Jr. and driven by Jason Bartlett.
Polak A, with Brian Sears listed to drive for trainer Tony O’Sullivan, got post three in his split, which also includes Michaels Power and Foiled Again. Michaels Power is fourth in the series standings and Foiled Again is tied for seventh with Dancin Yankee, Sapphire City, and Windsong Jack.
Bettors Edge, who is tied with Warrawee Needy for fifth in the series, headlines the remaining division, which also includes Sapphire City and Windsong Jack.
Dancin Yankee and Warrawee Needy are among the horses who will attempt to beat BeachMemories in the fourth division. They drew posts one and seven, respectively.
To view the entries for Saturday's card, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Yonkers Raceway.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.