Tobago Cays and Jim Pantaleano
Tobago Cays (Jim Pantaleano) unleashed a decisive move by the half Saturday night en route to winning Yonkers Raceway’s $33,000 Open Handicap Pace.
Leaving from post 3, Tobago Cays was away fourth as Lucky Man (Larry Stalbaum) and Silent Swing (Brent Holland) played leapfrog on the lead. The former retook from the latter just after a 26.4 opening quarter-mile.
As the field approached the 55.3 intermission, Tobago Cays approached the leader. He went right on by Lucky Man, then took off to the tune of a 26.4 third quarter (1:22.2).
That sprint gave Tobago Cays a five-length lead at the three-quarters and 6-½ lengths turning for home. He then finished it off, prevailing by 3-½ lengths in 1:52.
Corky Baran (Eric Goodell) rallied for a non-threatening second as the 19-10 favorite, with Here We Go Again (Jason Bartlett), last week’s winner, Foreign Officer (Jordan Stratton) and Sea Venture (George Brennan) completing the cashers.
Tobago Cays, a regally bred (two Harness Horses of the Year in Rocknroll Hanover and Bunny Lake) 5-year-old owned by Brian Nixon and trained by Ross Croghan, returned $9.70 (fourth choice) for his first win in three seasonal starts. The exacta paid $31.20, with the triple returning $139.50. (Yonkers Raceway)
