Desperate Man conquers his foes in Aria Invitational

After a downpour that caused a delay, the $250,000 Aria Invitational for older pacers at MGM Yonkers Raceway was sent on its way, and 1-5 favorite Desperate Man (Shadow Play) delivered for harness racing driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Travis Alexander in 1:57.4 for the mile and a sixteenth distance.

Desperate Man got away fourth from post one, but Kakaley put him in motion before the 26.3 quarter and got by MGM Borgata Pacing Series champion Hellabalou (Yannick Gingras) to take command past that station. From there, Desperate Man continued to show the way through a half-mile of 55.2 and three-quarters in 1:23 as he got separation from Hellabalou and a first-over Coaches Corner (Jason Bartlett), who vacated the pylons on the second turn, stalled out.

Around the final bend and to the wire Desperate Man remained well in front of the rest of the horses, and he hit the wire 4 1/4 lengths ahead of a game Coaches Corner. Dunkin’ (Tim Tetrick) wound up two-wide throughout and followed the cover of Coaches Corner to get third, Hellabalou faded to fourth and Its A Me Mario (Lauren Tritton), who also never saw the pylons and wound up in the outer tier, was the fifth-place finisher.

“He’s a really good horse,” Kakaley remarked post-race. “He perseveres. When I got parked here (in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series final), he bounced back, (the Battle of Lake Erie) at Northfield, he bounced back, two weeks ago at Batavia (in the Kane Memorial where he was bothered by a breaker and still won), that was a disaster in the last turn and he bounced back. He’s special for sure.

DESPERATE MAN REPLAY

A 6-year-old Shadow Play gelding trained by Travis Alexander, Desperate Man was bred by Winbak Farm and is owned by Kathy Cecchin. Desperate Man made his 26th appearance in the winner’s circle, has now earned $1,445,274 and paid $2.70 to win as the 1-5 favorite. He was atop a $13.60 exacta and a $78.50 trifecta.

“Think about it, every time he races for money something happens – the rain (today). He just finally got a clean trip,” said Alexander.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From Yonkers Raceway