Desperate Man grinds out impressive Open win

With a first-over move after the opening quarter mile, Desperate Man (Shadow Play) and harness racing driver Brent Holland were able to grind it out with an impressive score in winning the Yonkers Raceway $32,000 Open Pace Monday (Dec. 4) evening.

The 8^th race feature saw three horses leave out of the gate with Hemsworth N (Matt Kakaley) taking the lead, American Mercury (Joe Bongiorno) grabbing the two-hole trip and race favorite Hellabalou (Yannick Gingras) getting away in third place as they raced to the first quarter in :27.1.

Then Desperate Man and Holland moved first-over from fourth place, boxing in Hellabalou as Idealsomemagic A (Jason Bartlett) moved into second-over position. Hemsworth N led the field to the half mile marker in :56.4 as Desperate Man kept coming on the outside.

Down the backstretch, Hemsworth N was wearing down as Desperate Man collared the pacesetter and took the lead away at the three-quarters in 1:23.2 with Idealsomemagic N now first-over and Covered Bridge (Jordan Stratton) coming second-over.

By the top of the stretch, Desperate Man opened up on the field by three lengths and held an easy margin down the stretch, winning by two lengths in 1:51.3. Idealsomemagic A was second with Covered Bridge third.

DESPERATE MAN REPLAY

It was the third straight win for Desperate Man, who had moved up the ladder to the top class at Yonkers. He now sports seven win this season for trainer Travis Alexander and owner Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ontario. He paid $10.80 to win.

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

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink