47-1 longshot upsets in $511,000 MGM Borgata final

The longest shot on the tote board at 47-1, Hellabalou (Sweet Lou) pulled off the big upset in the $511,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series harness racing final on Monday night (April 24) 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, 8-5 favorite Covered Bridge (Tyler Buter) would be 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’s 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).

HELLABALOU REPLAY

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 gameplan 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 LLC., Eric Good, Weaver Bruscemi LLC., and Larry Karr, Hellabalou is a 5-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 $96.00 to win and was atop a $748.00 exacta and a $1,355.00 trifecta.

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 (Sweet Lou) and driver 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 Priceless Beach (Yannick Gingras). Tattoo Artist (Dexter Dunn) collected third.

HELMSWORTH N REPLAY

Trained by Jared Bako, Hemsworth N, a 6-year-old 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 as the 3-5 favorite and keyed a $31.80 exacta and an $89.00 trifecta.

Splash Brother (American Ideal) and driver 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. Jack’s Legend N (Kakaley) was third.

The victorious 6-year-old stallion is trained by Linda Toscano for the owners Enviro Stables LTD. and Ken Jacobs. This was his 17th career win, he has now pocketed $470,671, and he paid $17.40 to win. The exacta was worth $93.00 and the trifecta kicked back $355.50.

SPLASH BROTHER REPLAY

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. (EDT).

For complete race results, click here.

From Yonkers Raceway