Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

$291,817 Yonkers Trot at Freehold

August 18, 2005

Ken Warkentin and Worship--winners of their respective elimination races--will be the likely favorites in the $297,817 Yonkers Trot final at Freehold Raceway. The race is being held at Freehold because Yonkers Raceway is being renovated for slot machines.

Ken Warkentin’s triumph followed several weeks of disappointment for the horse’s connections. On July 30, Ken Warkentin went off stride in his elim for the Hambletonian and failed to advance to the $1.5 million final, which was won the following week by Vivid Photo. Ken Warkentin, the pre-race favorite to win the Hambletonian, went off stride only one other time in his career, last year on a sloppy track at the Meadowlands.

Ken Warkentin, trained by Jimmy Takter, won his Yonkers Trot elim by 1½ lengths over Strong Yankee in 1:57 while Maximum Return was third and Clearaway was fourth. The Yonkers Trot is the second jewel in trotting’s Triple Crown, along with the Hambletonian and the Kentucky Futurity. Last year, Ken Warkentin won eight of nine starts and earned $643,240 en route to being named harness racing’s best two-year-old male trotter. He has won three of six races this season and earned $88,792.

Worship, trained by Arild Eggen and driven by Stephane Bouchard, won his Yonkers Trot elim by 1½ lengths over Yankee Slugfest in 1:57.2. Keaton Zet was third and Med Vac was fourth. Worship has won two of six races this year and earned $40,492. He raced three times in 2004, finishing second once, and earned $6,250. Worship rallied from fifth place to overtake Yankee Slugfest in the stretch last weekend.

"He came out of his elimination very good; I was thrilled about it," said Eggen, who trained 1998 Hambletonian Oaks winner Fern. "I expected him to race good, too. In my eyes, he was the best horse in that field. He’s an amazing animal. He’s big and he’s always happy. He’s not a very handy horse; he’s a little clumsy. That was my concern about him racing on a half-mile track. But he did well. I hope they can go a good half mile and battle it out on Saturday and we get a similar trip. I think he’s going to do very well."

Bouchard has driven Worship twice, both wins. "I think it’s just been good timing," he said. "He was very good Saturday. I didn’t rush him out of there and he got a second-over trip. I never had to use him; he was fresh at the end. I never asked him for anything, he did it all himself. With a good trip and a little luck in the final, you never know what can happen."

Last year, Windsong’s Legacy won the Yonkers Trot on his way to becoming trotting’s first Triple Crown winner since 1972. There will not be a Triple Crown winner this year as Vivid Photo wasn’t entered in the Yonkers Trot. Vivid Photo is expected to make his next start Thursday in a $92,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race at the Meadows, near Pittsburgh.