The 2023 George Morton Levy (aka Borgata) Open FFA Pacing Series

[Superfecta]

When talking about it publicly, Gural used to pretend to not know the name of these series in a low class move to discredit them

He’s really low class garbage. A lousy  hypocrite.

[augustaandy]

AND, the guy selling balloons and yelling “Don’t forget the kids at home”

"one for a quarter, 5 for a dollar!!!"

[augustaandy]

Don't forget the hot pretzels that were sold after the races outside the exit gate!

I used to stay in the game room an hour after the races and took home the leftover pretzels in a box outside the hut

[augustaandy]

The five $50,000 preliminary leg Open FFA Pacing Series followed by a (an estimated, methinks overly optimistic) $1,500,000 final, remains IMO one of the most exciting spectacles in Harness Racing. 

final $200,000

https://empirecitycasino.mgmresorts.com/content/dam/MGM/empire-city-casino/racing/pdfs/stakes-races/empire-city-casino-2023-mgm-borgata-pacing-series-nomination.pdf

[Brown jug]

i think it went for $500k in 2022
where all the money go ??

[Superfecta]

i think it went for $500k in 2022
where all the money go ??

Ukraine

[Parked]

Too much emphasis on history to draw any attention.  Get Apple to throw in $100,000 and call it the.   iphone 15….

[GlenMidby]

The emphasis is where it should be.  Nice horses racing for $50,000 for five weeks, followed by a $200,000 final and a $100,000 consolation for the top 16 entrants decided by the total points accumulated in the five prelims.  That multi entrant one interest tag teaming is prohibited in both races is a bonus.       

[Harness racer]

That purse for the finals is terrible.  Make the elims worth less or something.  The finals of a series that takes that long should be 400-500k!

[seen2much]

The final is 200K added. Isn't that added to starting & declaration fees?

[cracker]

Welcome GlenMidby, got my intro to harness racing at Roosevelt in the early 70's. Free entry for the 8th. IMHO, 1/2 or not, best racing night after night thanks to a deep driver's colony, Faraldo excluded. A young Howard Oil was honing his skills.

[GlenMidby]

  The final is 200K added. Isn't that added to starting & declaration fees?

That's correct.

The 2022 (last year's) final went for $549,000; with a $100,000 consolation and one more $50,000 race for horses that were eligible to the series. 

Last year's edition was just a GREAT horse race and a tough beat for Leonidas A who was out and rolling before the half, only to be followed by the race winner Funatthebeach N in 1:50.1.  A most gracious winning driver, Jordan Stratton, following the race:

"That's really his bread-and-butter, that kind of trip right there," said Stratton, who stuck with Funatthebeach N over his brother Cory's horse Pat Stanley N before the last preliminary round after he showed the ability to rally past Nandolo N to win in the third leg. "In the Open prior to this series, we were trying to make him do a little more work than he's accustomed to, coming from the outside and being first-over, but that's just not his game. When he gets towed in second-over and fans wide off the last turn, he puts in a really good effort.

"There were no slouches in the race at all, but I was definitely happy to see the half in 53. Even halfway down the stretch, I didn't know if I was going to stay by Leonidas A once I got by him. He's such a tough horse. Year-in and year-out he shows up. I feel bad that he didn't earn the win, but I'm happy I got it."   

I tried to post a link directly to that race's replay, but Roberts Communication Network blocked it. 

Instead, go here; https://empirecitycasino.mgmresorts.com/en/racing/watch-races-online.html

Scroll down and click View Race Replays - reset the calendar to Apr 2022 - click on April 25, and select race 8. 

In my opinion, just a great horse race!   

[hot2trot]

they dont give a shit about racing or its history and just want to promote their brand before killing off yonkers raceway ----obviously

[Unclejerry]

2 warmup race's tonight
RACE 5 - Yonkers Raceway - NY - February 27, 2023
Conditions: OPEN
Gait: PacePurse: 36,000Class: OPEN HDPDistance: 1 MilePost Time: 8:20 PM
Pick 5 (5-9) $10K   Submit
PP    Horse   Med   2023 North America YTD    Driver    Trainer   ML   Claim
    Equip   Sts    W    P    S    Time    Earnings         Stable   Odds   Price
1    Bee Two Bee   L    1     0     0     1     Q1:52.0M     $2316     George Brennan    Ron Burke   9-2   
2    Lou`s Sweetrevenge   L    1     0     0     1     -     $4800     Braxten Boyd    Andrew Adamczyk   7-1   
3    Jahan Hanover   L    5     3     1     0     1:52.3H     $35800     Yannick Gingras    Per Engblom   6-1   
4    Covered Bridge   L    5     2     0     2     1:51.4H     $34860     Jordan Stratton    Jeffrey Gillis   4-1   
5    The Ideal Dancer A   L    5     2     2     0     1:52.1H     $44050     Jason Bartlett    Andrew Harris   9-2   
6    Priceless Beach   L    2     0     1     1     -     $11100     Matt Kakaley    Jared Bako   7-1   
7    Nicholas Beach   L    3     1     0     1     1:49.0M     $14800     Joe Bongiorno    Jennifer Bongiorno   7-1   
8    Lochinvar Art A   L    2     2     0     0     1:50.1M     $28750     Lauren Tritton    Shane Tritton   6-1   


RACE 8 - Yonkers Raceway - NY - February 27, 2023
Conditions: OPEN
Gait: PacePurse: 36,000Class: OPEN HDPDistance: 1 MilePost Time: 9:20 PM
Submit
PP    Horse   Med   2023 North America YTD    Driver    Trainer   ML   Claim
    Equip   Sts    W    P    S    Time    Earnings         Stable   Odds   Price
1    Oakwoodnitownit Ir   L    3     0     2     0     Q1:53.3H     $20880     Joe Bongiorno    Jared Bako   7-1   
2    Nandolo N   L    4     2     1     0     1:48.3M     $47050     Jason Bartlett    Shane Tritton   3-1   
3    Leonidas A   L    1     0     0     1     Q1:56.2H     $4320     Austin Siegelman    Matthew Medeiros   6-1   
4    Semi Tough   L    5     2     0     2     1:52.3H     $48460     Yannick Gingras    Ron Burke   7-2   
5    Backstreet Shadow   L    6     2     0     2     1:50.4F     $36850     Matt Kakaley    Travis Alexander   9-2   
6    Idealsomemagic A       6     5     0     0     1:52.0H     $48125     George Brennan    Cory Stratton   6-1   
7    Funatthebeach N   L    5     4     0     0     1:52.2H     $57500     Jordan Stratton    Jeffrey Gillis   5-1   

[Harness racer]

I see BACKSTREET SHADOW goes from Jim King to Alexander's barn, one crook to the next!