Yonkers Raceway - Feature Stakes Races

Feature Stakes Races

Yonkers previously was the site of the Cane Pace, one of the legs of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. It is now the host track for another leg, the Messenger Stakes. Yonkers is also home to the Yonkers Trot, one of the legs of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. Due to the renovations at Yonkers, the Messenger and Yonkers Trot were moved to different racetracks for the 2004 and 2005 editions. The Messenger was moved to Harrington Raceway in Delaware in both years, and the Yonkers Trot was moved to Hawthorne Racecourse in Stickney, IL in 2004, and Freehold Raceway in New Jersey in 2005.

Yonkers Raceway ran both the Yonkers Trot and the Messenger on November 25, 2006, becoming the first harness track in America to host two Triple Crown races on the same day. Glidemaster, by virtue of winning the $728,000 Yonkers Trot, became the eighth horse to clinch the Trotting Triple Crown; the trotter would go on to be named 2006 Harness Horse of the Year.

Yonkers Raceway is also home to the Art Rooney Pace for three year olds. However, continued delays in the reopening of the track forced the 2006 edition of the race to be moved to Monticello Raceway. The final of the 2007 Art Rooney Pace, run on June 2, 2007, was the richest race in Yonkers history, with a $1 million purse. It was won by Southwind Lynx with a late outside run in 1:52.3. Tim Tetrick was the driver. The current track record for a trotting race horse is 1:54 and 3 fifths of a second set by Shutter Boy on October 30, 2009, with the trainer John McDermott and driver Yannick Gingras(this was not a stakes race).