Lahaye sat a Saturday night pocket, winning Yonkers Raceway's $42,500 Open Handicap Pace and providing driver George Brennan with one of his seven victories on the card
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Leaving from post position No. 2, Lahaye was first to the lead before yielding to Psilvuheartbreaker (Cat Manzi) right at the :27.1 opening quarter-mile.
Handsome Prince (Yannick Gingras), last week's winner and this week's 8-5 choice, left for a seat from the eight-hole. He was out and moving right after Psilvuheartbreaker took over, prompting to the :56.3 intermission and 1:24.2 three-quarters.
The leader remained so turning for home, but faced a two-pronged challenge. Lahaye angled out, while Ghees House (Brent Holland) rallied up the inside. The former whipped the latter by a head in 1:52.2, with "Heartbreaker," Handsome Prince and Arduous (Jim Pantaleano) completing the cashers.
For Lahaye, a four-year-old Real Artist gelding trained by Mark Ford for owner James Snyder, he returned $10.40 (third choice) for his 10th win in 26 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $112.50, with the triple returning $358.50
Next week's New York Sire Stakes agenda includes Monday night's $276,912 Rye Pace (three-year-old fillies), Tuesday night's $236,456 Frank Becerra Pace (two-year-old fillies) and Friday night's Armand Palatucci Trot (three-year-old colts/geldings) with a purse to be announced.
Brennan Wins Seven, Including Two "Heaters"
The fact that George Brennan won seven races during Yonkers Raceway's 13-race Saturday night card does not justify interrupting regularly-scheduled programming, but that two of them came as halves of dead-heats is a bit quirky.
Brennan--who drove in a dozen races--won the evening's featured $42,500 Open Handicap Pace with Lahaye ($10.40) in 1:52.2 (see previous epic), which was his third of four consecutive victories.
His first win of the night--after Dan Dube (four winners himself) reeled in the first three races--came behind odds-on Cutty Shark ($3.50) in the $26,000, fourth-race pace (1:52.4). Brennan won the $22,000 fifth-race pace with Allamerican Inca ($5.40) in 1:54.4 before his pocket victory with Lahaye.
The seventh race, a $33,000 Preferred Handicap Pace, saw Brennan and Lightning Elvis ($2.60) go first-up and have the share the marquee with pace-setting Fireintheshark (Yannick Gingras, $5.10) in 1:53.2.
Brennan won the $27,000, ninth-race pace with Keystone Rideau ($6.60) in 1:53 before halving his glory in the $30,000, 10th-race pace. He and Majo Just Do It ($2.80) could not be separated from Tug River Claude (Jim Pantaleano, $3.30) in 1:53.
Brennan completed his mundane night's work winning the $33,000, 12th-race pace woth J As Outlaw ($7.20) in 1:54. The was Lou Pena's fourth training victort of the evening.
For his efforts, Brennan earned the 13th race off...actually, he didn't have a drive, but why quibble?
"I really just take each race as it comes," Brennan said. "To win seven in one night, obviously a lot of things have to go right, and they did tonight.
"You try to put all of them in good spots. If you do, good things happen."
Saturday night's $27,000 pacing finale saw Pangiorno (Jason Bartlett, $4.90) match the track record for four-year-old geldings with a 1:51.3 effort.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)