Longshot Hellabalou pulled off a 47-1 upset in the $511,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series final on Monday night at MGM Yonkers Raceway, rallying up the inside in the lane after yielding to sit in the pocket early. The final time for the Joe Bongiorno-driven, Ron Burke-trained horse was 1:50.3.
The 2021 Adios winner, Hellabalou, left out quickly from post five and crossed over to the pylons early on the first turn. Fellow Burke trainee and former MGM Borgata Pacing Series champion This Is The Plan (Yannick Gingras) pressed on two-wide, though, and took the top spot away from Hellabalou before the 27.1 quarter went on the board.
Coming off the second turn, the 8-5 favourite, Covered Bridge (Tyler Buter), was flushed first-up out of the third position by a moving Idealsomemagic A (George Brennan), and Covered Bridge advanced to within a length of This Is The Plan at the :55.2 half. Covered Bridge continued to chip away at This Is The Plan's margin around the third bend and to the 1:22.2 three-quarters, and the battle continued past that marker as well.
In the upper part of the stretch, This Is The Plan continued to show an advantage over Covered Bridge and was responding to Gingras' encouragement, but he also came off the pylons, enabling Hellabalou to find a seam to blast through. Hellabalou had plenty of pace once the space became available, and he went by on his way to a one-length victory over a closing Leonidas A (Austin Siegelman). Covered Bridge ended up third, followed by This Is The Plan, and a mired-in-traffic Lochinvar Art A (Lauren Tritton).
Bongiorno noted that Burke had him go a training trip with Hellabalou earlier in the week and that he was just as good then as he was tonight.
"He trained exactly the way he raced. He carried it right into the race and he couldn't have been any better," said Bongiorno. "I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity and luckily the horse showed up tonight.
"When I looked over behind the gate, nobody was leaving and I changed my game plan completely. I had planned on racing him from off-the-pace, but the way it turned out, I took a shot out of there because nobody was leaving. I turned Yannick loose pretty cheap and luckily I was able to sneak through up the rail finishing, and he had plenty of go."
Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Weaver Bruscemi and Larry Karr, Hellabalou is a five-year-old Sweet Lou stallion. He has now compiled a record of 20-5-5 from 55 starts and he boosted his earnings to $840,744. He paid $96 to win.
Amazing Dream N and driver Yannick Gingras drew the pole for Monday's $328,200 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series final at Yonkers and used that position to advantage, setting all the fractions and drawing clear in the homestretch to score an impressive victory in a 1:53.1 mile.
Sent off as the 5-2 second choice, Amazing Dream N held off a strong closing Lit De Rose, with favoured Dougs Babe A settling for third.
The inside horses all left with purpose, but Gingras showed his hand, and that settled the early pace before the opening turn with Amazing Dream N on top and Racine Bell with Jason Bartlett willingly taking the two-hole. Dougs Babe A, the 4-5 favourite with Dexter Dunn, sat third, and Lucky Artist A and Braxten Boyd were content to travel in fourth in the early stages.
Following a moderate :27.4 opening quarter, the race changed as Racine Bell made an uncharacteristic break in stride. That allowed Amazing Dream N to reach the half unchallenged in :56.4. Boyd and Lucky Artist A were the first to move, with Lit De Rose and Pat Lachance following her cover.
Amazing Dream N kept a decent clip up the backstretch, with Lucky Artist A a safe distance away through three-quarters in 1:25.1. Gingras was mindful of the pocket-sitting favourite through the final turn, but Lit De Rose loomed a danger when Lachance sent her three-deep on the final bend.
"I was trying to keep Dexter [Dunn] locked in but when I saw Pat [Lachance] go three-wide, I asked my mare," said Gingras.
During the sprint home, Amazing Dream N flashed a 28-second quarter to win comfortably. Lit De Rose out-sprinted Dougs Babe A, who dealt with tight quarters in the stretch and clearly lacked the momentum necessary after finding room. Last year's champion Drama Act used the pylons and then angled out in the stretch to finish fourth, while Lucky Artist A held fifth.
The win was the fourth in five starts this year for Amazing Dream N, who is trained by Linda Toscano for owners Enviro Stable, Richard Gutnick, Tom Pontone and Joseph Lozito Jr. Amazing Dream N returned $7.20 to win. The seven-year-old Bettors Delight mare now has 30 lifetime wins and earnings of $1,500,961.
"We've been invited to the Betsy Ross," said Toscano following the race, indicating that Amazing Dream N would be pointed towards the race at Harrah's
In addition to the final, there were also MGM Borgata Pacing Series consolations worth $100,000 and $50,000.
The $100,000 consolation went to Hemsworth N (Jordan Stratton), who put up panels of :26.3, :55.4 and 1:23.3 while being confronted on the rim first by a parked out None Bettor A (George Brennan) in the opening half and then by American Courage (Matt Kakaley), who went three-wide from second-over in the third quarter to take up the chase in the first-up position. Hemsworth N was resolute and up to the challenges, though, and used a :27.3 last quarter to hold sway by a length in a 1:51.1 mile, topping stablemate
Trained by Jared Bako, Hemsworth N, a six-year-old Sweet Lou gelding, is owned by 1362313 Ontario Ltd. He made his 17th appearance in the winner's circle in his 38th start and he sent his bankroll to $184,009. He returned $3.50 to win.
Splash Brother (Mark MacDonald) led through fractions of :28, :56.4 and 1:24.1 in the $50,000 consolation #2, but while he maintained command into the lane, he also drifted out. Taking advantage was 7-1 shot American Dealer N (Bongiorno), who rallied through after sitting on the pylons in the three-hole and got up to prevail by a head in 1:52.3. Jacks Legend N (Kakaley) was third.
The victorious six-year-old American Ideal stallion is trained by Linda Toscano for the owners Enviro Stables and Ken Jacobs. This was his 17th career win and he has now pocketed $470,671. He paid $17.40 to win.
Delitfulcatherin N and driver Jordan Stratton captured the $75,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker consolation as the 4-5 favourite for owner Mark Ford and trainer Jeff Gillis.
The imported daughter of Bettors Delight made a regaining move at the quarter and set comfortable fractions in scoring in 1:52.4 over Morning Has Broken (Gingras) and Gotthegreenlight (Dunn). The victory was the third of the year in 11 starts for the seven-year-old mare, who returned $3.90 to win. Delitfulcatherin N made her 23rd appearance in the winner's circle overall and pushed her bankroll to $471,944.
Stakes action will resume at MGM Yonkers Raceway on Wednesday, April 26 with the $100,000 final and the $35,000 consolation of the John Brennan Trotting Series.
Also, continuing through May 18, the Pick 5 pool on Thursdays at MGM Yonkers Raceway will be seeded with $10,000 and also have a guaranteed pool of $25,000. This initiative is being offered in partnership with the Standardbred Owners Association of New York as part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program.
MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time at 7 p.m.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)