Millionaire and former Horse of the Year Desperate Man made his way to the Yonkers Raceway winner’s circle once again; however, on Monday, Dec. 4, the victory added a new line to his resume as he got his picture taken after winning his first Open stateside, the $32,000 Open Handicap Pace.
Brent Holland and the Travis Alexander student eased into fourth and maintained pylon position through the opening station in :27.1. After that panel, Holland tugged his right line and sent Desperate Man on the charge towards the front. He was caught second on the outside through the half in :56.4 before taking command of the field. After one more panel in 1:23.2, Desperate Man posted a last quarter in :28.1 to win by two lengths in 1:51.3. Idealsomemagic A (Jason Bartlett) finished second and Covered Bridge (Jordan Stratton) was third.
Desperate Man is owned by Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ont. The five-year-old gelded son of Shadow Play and the Artsplace mare Dreamlands Latte has $1,223,001 earned from a record of 15-8-7 in 53 starts. This season, Desperate Man has seven wins in 16 starts. Since Oct. 5, the gelding has been racing in the U.S. and has won four of his five starts at Yonkers Raceway. With only one third in the mix, he has yielded $52,020 in his current U.S. campaign with conditioner Travis Alexander.
He paid $10.80 to win as the 4-1 third choice.
(Standardbred Canada)
