Blue Chip Matchmaker Series Kicks Off Friday
At 0h37, on March 14, 2023 • By YONKERS
The first leg of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series for pacing mares at Yonkers Raceway was drawn on Monday afternoon (March 13), with a total of 24 entrants necessitating a trio of $40,000 divisions on Friday night’s (March 17) 10-race program.
In the first split (race four), there will be a rematch between Drama Act (post four, George Brennan) and Racine Bell (post seven, Jason Bartlett), the top two finishers in last year’s Blue Chip Matchmaker Series final. Those two also faced off in last Friday night’s Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace, and Drama Act won by a nose in 1:53.1 (pictured above).
Easy To Please (post seven, Jordan Stratton), third in last year’s Blue Chip Matchmaker Series final, is among the entrants in Friday’s second section (race five). Easy To Please also checked in behind Drama Act and Racine Bell in that Mares Open at Yonkers last Friday. She’ll meet up with the likes of Lit De Rose (post three, Pat Lachance), who won a leg of the Matchmaker and was second in the consolation in 2022.
Lucky Artist A (post five, Braxten Boyd) has won two editions of the Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace at Yonkers this year and will look to keep her winning momentum going in the third flight (race eight). She’ll face a deep group that includes track record holder Gotthegreenlight (post two, Dexter Dunn), 2022’s Blue Chip Matchmaker Series consolation champion Gias Surreal (post three, Jason Bartlett) and another Blue Chip Matchmaker Series finalist from a year ago in Karma Seelster (post six, Matt Kakaley).
Preliminary round action of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series will continue through Friday, April 14 and will conclude with a $125,000 added final that should go for at least $250,000 on April 24.
