On the first real cool day of the fall, a 30-1 shot wins the Yonkers International Trot.
The $1million purse went to Sweden’s Cruzado Dela Noche, who was driven by local driver Brian Sears, who won over Norway’s Lionel (11-1) in 2:24 3/5. Up And Quick (10-1), from France, finished third.
Sears, a Yonkers regular, chose to drive the Swedish entry and longshot over one of the favorites, Ariana G from the United States with 5-1 odds.
“To win the Yonkers International Trot, it’s such a big race and you don’t get very many opportunities to get it done and it’s great to have that on my resume,” Sears said, who also won earlier in the day with the Dan Rooney Invitational Pace with Mcwicked (2-5) in 1:50 4/5 for the flat mile.
Cruzado Dela Noche came from behind in the race after the favorite Italy’s Ringostarr Treb (7-5) broke offstride on the first turn finish ninth.
And then the horse paced Lionel, using the stretch run to eventually overtake the send place winner by a nose.
“The trip went out perfectly. I thought I might have three-deeped him a little early, but I was a little nervous that someone might have been coming at the time,” Sears said. “The horse trotted hard right to the wire, and he raced super. I knew a couple of them made breaks, but I was really happy with my spot and I had cover. Like I said, I was really thrilled with the trip. I thought maybe I three-deeped him a little early, but at least I put some pace on Lionel. If I didn’t go he wasn’t going to be used that much.”
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