Simon Says win another Yonkers Open Pace

Simon Says Hanover (Captaintreacherous) must feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of harness racing. Considering he just knocked off a rival last week that had won 10 straight, you may think he’d get all the respect from the morning line maker for tonight’s 3-6 year old Open at Yonkers Raceway.

But not so. He will open as the slight 2 to 1 second choice after getting assigned the widest post #5 for tonight’s dash while the morning line favorite Adam Twelve (Luck Bewithyou) drew the rail. Perhaps the post position inequality is baked into the morning line, but Adam Twelve also figures to be a formidable foe on his own merit and his current sharp form.

The four-year-old Per Engblom trainee has won six of his eight starts since shipping into Yonkers from Indiana last November, and he finished second, beaten less than a length, in his two defeats. Tonight’s driver, Yannick Gingras, and partners Ben Mondello and Fac Racing Llc bought him in an online auction three months ago, and the gelding has earned almost $70,000 for his new owners in just over three months.

Adam Twelve comes in off a sharp front end score in the non-winners of $20,301 last five class despite having been idle for more than a month, and he figures to give Simon Says Hanover all he wants tonight.

But Simon surely will have a say as he impressively overcame the wide post last week to power home in :26.4, cutting through the fog like a bay lightning bolt in the stretch to nail Coaches Corner right on the line and end his win streak at 10. It was the Jared Bako trainee’s sixth win at the Open level in his last 10 starts and he will no doubt be charging hard late again.

There is another hot racehorse to keep an eye on in this talented quintet, but this one is a mare taking on the boys.

Five-year-old Sale El Sole (Bettors Delight), who will be racing off the fresh claim for trainer Peter Pellegrino, has won five of her last six starts, but all the victories came at the $50,000 claiming level in races restricted to fillies and mares.

Her recent winning times in the 1:55 range don’t seem to stack up to those posted by the two favorites, but she did take a lifetime mark of 1:52.3 at Yonkers last October and she figures to get a good trip from her inside post #2 racing near the front. She will race for Queen Of Hearts Stable of New York and Cassandra Solarte of California. Jason Bartlett will handle the lines.

Starting from the middle of the gate will be Captain Cowboy (Captaintreacherous), who finished third to Simon Says Hanover last week. The five-year-old Mickey Burke trainee could be expected to improve this week considering he had missed close to six weeks before last week’s start.

George Brennan picks up the drive on Captain Cowboy, who races for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi Llc of Pennsylvania, Knox Services Inc. of Ohio, and Beasty Llc of Nevada. He looks to go over $450,000 in lifetime earnings with a win.

Rounding out the field is Greg The Leg (Huntsville) who set a slow pace in this class last week but ended up fourth in the five-horse field. The Michael Forte trainee races for owner Lester Girardi Jr. of Florida and he will be driven by Greg Holland.

Here is the field for the 3-6 Year Old Open Pace which is scheduled to go at 7:20 Eastern as Race 2:

1. Adam Twelve (Yannick Gingras)

2. Sale El Sole (Jason Bartlett)

3. Captain Cowboy (George Brennan)

4. Greg The Leg (Brent Holland)

5. Simon Says Hanover (Matt Kakaley)

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

by Garnet Barnsdale, for Harnesslink