$447,000 in purses at Yonkers Monday

Yonkers Raceway will feature $447,000 in total purses Monday evening headlined by the opening round of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series.

There are five $50,000 divisions of the Borgata Series featuring many of the top older pacers in the sport. The sixth week series has total purses of $1.5 million with the final at an estimated $500,000.

This Is The Plan, who turned in a tour-de-force 1:50 4/5 decision from post eight in last year’s $514,000 final, will start from post five with Yannick Gingras in the bike for trainer Ron Burke in the third race.

Burke has five horses entered in the opening round of the MGM Borgata Series, and Gingras has four drives in the five divisions.

A winner of over $2.5 million lifetime, This Is The Plan prepped for this race with two qualifiers at the Meadowlands, finishing second on March 5 and winning by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:51.2 on March 11. American History (post seven, Todd McCarthy/Tony Alagna), who owns a piece of the overall Yonkers track record with a 1:49.3 mile back in 2019, will also compete in this tilt.

The second flight (race four) contains another Yonkers track record holder in Dragon Said (Joe Bongiorno/Jenn Bongiorno, post five), the invading Elver Hanover (post four, George Brennan/Ron Burke), and former Borgata Series participant and stakes winner None Bettor A (post six, Tim Tetrick/Andrew Harris).

Western Joe (post one, Dexter Dunn/Chris Choate) is back for another try in the MGM Borgata Series and leads the third section in race five. Western Joe won two legs of last year’s event and was the favorite in the final, but he couldn’t get involved in the fast pace set by This Is The Plan and ended up eighth. He’ll take on stakes winner Nicholas Beach (post four, Joe Bongiorno/Jenn Bongiorno), another Burke entrant in Covered Bridge (post six, Gingras), and the impressive-looking New Zealand import American Dealer N (post seven, Scott Zeron/Linda Toscano).

Another horse who had a great deal of success in the MGM Borgata Series in 2021 was Leonidas A, and he has the pole position in the fourth section (race six) for driver Austin Siegelman and trainer Sheena Cohen.

Leonidas A went four-for-four in the prelims he entered a year ago, but an outside draw and being looped by This Is The Plan at the start forced him far off-the-pace in the final, and he had to settle for fifth. Tattoo Artist (post seven, Dexter Dunn/Chris Ryder), another member of the 1:49.3 track record club at Yonkers, is also in this race.

Lyons Steel, who raced in the Borgata in both 2019 and 2021, has post six for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Dennis Watson in the seventh race last division. Lyons Steel, who was fourth in the final last year, will take on Nandolo N (post one, Jason Bartlett to drive for trainer Shane Tritton), Pat Stanley N (post two, Jordan Stratton/Cory Stratton), and Im Sir Blake A (post five, Marcus Miller/Erv Miller).

The MGM Borgata Series will be contested over five preliminary legs, concluding on Monday, April 18. The final will take place on April 25. That card will also have the final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, along with consolation events for both the Borgata and the Matchmaker.

Monday’s card at Yonkers has 12 races in total and will get underway at 6:55 p.m.

Click here for the full race card.

By Steve Wolf, Harnesslink with files from Yonkers Raceway