Pacing mares continued on the road towards March 17's opening leg of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series by competing in a $36,000 Open Handicap Pace on Friday night (March 3) at Yonkers Raceway, and favoured Lucky Artist A got the job done in a 1:53.3 mile.
Driven by Braxten Boyd, Lucky Artist A stepped out quickly from post four then yielded to sit in the pocket behind Delitfulcatherin N (Matt Kakaley) before the :27.1 opening quarter. Delitfulcatherin N remained in charge from there, hitting the half in :56.4 and the three-quarters in 1:25 before facing a first-over test from Easy To Please (Jordan Stratton) on the far turn.
Easy To Please and Delitfulcatherin N were about on even terms turning for home, but Delitfulcatherin N was unable to keep the inside closed in the stretch, giving ample opportunity for Lucky Artist A to rally through. Lucky Artist A did exactly that, kicking past the battling Delitfulcatherin N and Easy To Please on her way to a 1-1/4-length victory. Delitfulcatherin N did fend off Easy To Please for second, followed by Dragons Lucky Lady (Jason Bartlett) and Trick Of The Light (Tyler Buter).
Ricky Bucci trains Lucky Artist A, a 10-year-old daughter of Artistic Fella who is three-for-six to start the year, for owner Flatland Racing LLC. This was her 35th career victory and she has now banked $458,177 lifetime.
Lucky Artist A paid $5.20 to win. The exacta was worth $13.40 and the trifecta kicked back $40.80.
The handle on Friday night's 10-race program at Yonkers was a season-high $1,079,443.
Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time at 7 p.m. (EST).
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)