Yonkers, NY (Best E Casino) - Saturday night's 54th edition of the Yonkers Trot marks the beginning of this season's Trotting Triple Crown series. Eight three-year-old trotters will go postward for the one-mile race at Yonkers Raceway.
Last Saturday night nine standardbreds were entered in one elimination race to knockout a single horse from the field for the $605,854 Yonkers Trot final.
If the morning-line is any indication this year's Yonkers Trot is truly up for grabs among the eight trotters. Leading money earner Holiday Credit is the 3-1 favorite and Ace High Hall, winner of last Saturday night's lone $40,000 elimination, is listed at 8-1.
Holiday Credit will start from post four with driver Ron Pierce. Trained by Jimmy Takter, the colt leads the field with $156,595 in earnings this year. In last week's elimination he finished seventh as the 2-1 favorite.
The 7-2 second choice is Napoleon with driver Stephane Bouchard. The pair will leave from the two-hole after placing fifth in the elimination race a week ago. Napoleon, trained by Noel Daley, has earned $45,975 this year with two wins in four starts.
Make It Happen, third in the elimination race, is the 4-1 third choice and will start from post six with driver-trainer Raymond Schnittker. The colt has won two of five starts in 2008 for $128,987.
Ace High Hall, trained by Mark Ford, will be driven by David Miller from the far outside post. He set the Yonkers Raceway track record of 1:59 for 2-year- olds during last season's New York Sire Stakes. Ace High Hall has one win this year in three starts for $41,715.
Here is the complete field for the Yonkers Trot in post position order: Velocity Hall 6-1, Napoleon 7-2, Di Manggio 10-1, Holiday Credit 3-1, Over Ruled 10-1, Make It Happen 4-1, Big Apple Deli 6-1 and Ace High Hall 8-1.
The second leg of the Triple Crown is the Hambletonian which will take place at The Meadowlands on Saturday, August 2. The Trotting Triple Crown concludes with the Kentucky Futurity on Saturday, October 4 at The Red Mile in Kentucky.
