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Dec 7, 2017

The lake effect snows blew into Genesee County making Batavia Downs look like the North Pole and Mydelight Bluechip made like Rudolph and led all the way to win the $10,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace on the last Wednesday night (Dec. 6) of racing for the meet.

Mydelight Bluechip (Ben Mc Neil) was on a “take no prisoners” mission as she left and parked Little Joke (Billy Davis Jr.) and Voltina (Kevin Cummings) to the half in :56.3. As the race went on to the second circuit, Little Joke continued to apply the pressure but Voltina faded away, allowing Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) room to advance to the outside from sixth and move into a closer third position.

Moving through the last turn Mydelight Bluechip put away both of those challengers and led by two lengths. At that point it looked like she’d wrapped things up until Squeeze This (Drew Monti) and Hey Kobe (Shawn McDonough) came flying late, gobbling up ground in the stretch. But Mydelight Bluechip dug in and pulled out the win by a narrowing margin in 1:57.2.

Privately purchased on November 11 by Ellen Mc Neil, Mydelight Bluechip ($20.80) scored her first victory for her new owner and third of the year overall. The 5-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight is trained by John Mc Neil III, rounding out the Mc Neil trifecta in the race.

In the co-featured $8,000 distaff Open II, Sportsmuffler (Drew Monti) took the lead before the half and from there, left the rest of the field in her rear-view mirror as she pulled away to a seven-length win in 1:56.2. Owned by Lav Racing Stable and trained by Mike Carrubba, Sportsmuffler ($3.70)...

For our IdaBet players:  Yonkers Raceway has announced a post time for its upcoming Sunday matinee.

Dec. 17^th, first post 11:30 AM (races 5 [post time 1 PM] thru 11 [post time 4 PM] as ‘French’ trots, final [12^th] post 4:20 PM, provided a dozen races are drawn next Tuesday [Dec. 12^th])—

 This program wraps the 2017 live racing season.

    BY FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway          

IMPRESSIVE MAIDEN WINNER MCKINZIE GOES LONG IN CASHCALL FUTURITY;

UNDEFEATED DREAM TREE HEADLINES FIELD IN GRADE I STARLET

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has a chance to make history Saturday in the $300,000 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity and $300,000 Starlet.

In the history of the two Grade I races for 2-year-olds – which have been run since 1981 at either Hollywood Park or Los Alamitos – no trainer has ever won both in the same year.

Baffert, who has won the Starlet – which is restricted to fillies – three times and the Futurity on nine occasions – including all three run at Los Alamitos – will send out the undefeated Dream Tree in the Starlet and Solomini and McKinzie in the CashCall Futurity. Both races are at 1 1/16 miles.

Post time Saturday is 12:30 p.m. The Futurity is the third of nine races and has a scheduled post time of 1:28 p.m. while the Starlet goes about 30 minutes later as the fourth race.

Won previously by stars such as Snow Chief, A.P. Indy, Best Pal, Real Quiet, Point Given, Lookin At Lucky, Shared Belief, Dortmund, Mor Spirit and Mastery,  the CashCall Futurity is part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby’’ series. Saturday’s winner will receive 10 points towards securing a spot in the starting gate May 5, 2018 at Churchill Downs.

The Starlet, whose past winners include Althea, Very Subtle, Goodbye Halo, Sardula, Serena’s Song, Surfside, Blind Luck, Take Charge Brandi and Abel Tasman,  is part of the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks’’ series. The heroine Saturday will receive 10 points towards earning a berth in the Kentucky Oaks next May 4 in Louisville.

The Los Alamitos Racing Association will also offer a cash prize and three seats to the 2018 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas with a live money contest Saturday.

Cost to enter the Los Alamitos Winter Qualifier is $400. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the...