Not often does every horse appear in the same picture at the end of a race, but such was the case in Monday’s (Feb. 28) fifth at Yonkers Raceway as the finish camera captured all eight participants in the photo for win.
The finish camera captured all eight participants in the photo for win (click on photo for full sized image). Yonkers Raceway photo.
Four horses were stretched across the track at the line, with Cyclone Banner N winning the $21,500 conditioned pace by a nose over Nvestment Bluechip. Kerford Road A was third, beaten by a head, and Brackley Beach was fourth, a half-length back.
A length behind that quartet was a second line of four horses, all separated by only one-quarter length.
“I’ve never really seen that too much,” said Yonkers regular Jason Bartlett, who drove Cyclone Banner N to victory at odds of 55-1. “It’s very rare there, for sure, on a half-mile track that you have all eight horses pretty much within a length-and-a-half of each other.
“I knew I had a couple on my right side and one on my inside. I didn’t realize the other guys were right behind us. I more focused on what was to my right and left.”
Bartlett, a 10-time dash champion at Yonkers, won six times on Monday’s 12-race card. He leads all drivers at the track with 65 victories this year. He leads all drivers in North America in purses with $1.37 million.
“I knew I had a few shots, some decent spots, it was just whether or not they were going to work out,” Bartlett said about his night, adding with a laugh, “Afterwards, I can say it worked out.
“I just try to win the next one, that’s it. You obviously know in your head what you’re winning, but that one is done, and you move onto the next one.”
(USTA)