Yonkers Raceway’s pair of Saturday night $45,000 co-featured Open Handicaps were captured by Jason Bartlett, who guided Undercover Strike to a win in the Open Trot followed by Mach It So’s triumph in the Open Pace.
Undercover Strike ($6.80), caught three-wide early from assigned post position six in the weekly marquee trot, nevertheless went the distance (:28, :57.4, 1:26.2, 1:55.3). He held off the cavalry by a half-length, with E R Ellie (Jordan Stratton) a second-up second. Third went to a skimming Red Hot Herbie (Dan Dube), with 9-5 choice Ladys Dude (George Brennan) and Summers Windsong (Mark MacDonald) settling for the remainder. The quintet of cashers were separated by just a length-and-a-half at the wire.
For second choice Undercover Strike, an 8-year-old Striking Sahbra gelding owned by Gerard Stuchbury and trained by Tom Milici, it was his eighth win in a dozen seasonal starts.
The week’s featured pace saw Mach It So ($15.40) overcome an eight-hole with an adroit, ground-saving trip. Slight 2-1 choice Scott Rocks (Eric Abbatiello) and pole-sitting Dream Out Loud N (Tyler Buter) were in play early (:27, :56) before a jammed-in Somewhere in LA (Brennan) moved from third. That one offered nothing first-over going toward the 1:23.4 three-quarters, helping no one in the outer tier. Meanwhile, Mach it So was improved along the cones down the backside.
Scott Rocks owned a length lead into the lane, then saw Dream Out Loud N eschew the passing lane to angle out. That cleared the field for Mach it So, who zipped up the cones to win by a length in 1:52. Long Live Rock (Dube) was a wide second in good effort, photoing Doctor Butch (Brent Holland). Dream Out Loud N could no better than fourth off the two-hole trip, with Scott Rocks fading to fifth.
For fourth choice Mach it So, a six-year-old Mach Three gelding owned by Bamond Racing and trained by Jeffrey Bamond, Jr., he’s now 6-for-13 this season.
(Yonkers)