by Bob Heyden

It has only been called the Borgata for a few seasons. The Yonkers Raceway series originally was the Levy, named for Hall of Famer George Morton Levy. Let’s take a look at the man whose name used to grace the series:

• George Morton Levy was born in 1888 in Seafield, Long Island and died at 89 in 1977.

• He opened his first law office in 1912.

• In 1940, he became the founder and president of Roosevelt Raceway as nighttime racing came to the sport.

• Some of the initial problems Levy encountered with opening a new track was funding, caused by WWII and transportation issues. There was a rail strike when Roosevelt opened.

• Year one was 106 nights. A crowd of 14,189 made it to opening night and wagered $451,286. Glenda Hanover was the highest payout that night, returning $53.50. There was a minimum of $8,000 per night in purse distribution, with $9,249 on opening night and there were 800 horses stabled on the grounds.

• After using a motorized barrier from 1940 to 1946, Levy and his associates invested their own money to further the development of Steve Phillips’ mobile starting gate that debuted at Roosevelt in May 1946. It helped revolutionize the sport.

• In 1959, Levy introduced the world to the Roosevelt International. It even made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

•In 1965, Levy debuted an entirely new tote system, one which cycled every 80 seconds to show actual win and place payoffs.

• In 1967, Levy was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Goshen, his 268th time being honored in his life. “But I would have to rank this one as the best,” he said.

• On Nov. 4, 1978, Sirota Anderson and Norman Dauplaise won the inaugural $200,000 George Morton Levy Pacing series.

• The first driver to win it back-to-back was Buddy Gilmour in 1984 with Caramore and 1985 with On The Road Again.

• The race was not contested from 1997 to 2006.

• In 2007, Mickey Burke won it with Maltese Artist. Two years later, his son Ron would send out the very first horse to repeat in the race, Foiled Again (2009 and 2010).

• Maybe the best way to remember Levy — often referred to as “the father of night time harness racing” — is to list some of the quotes of the era about this unique man:

“He only has tomorrow in his thinking.”

“A fighter.”

“A, yes, gambler. A courageous inventor.”

“Roosevelt Raceway was the enduring imprint of his character. He was unique and great.”

“Nobly patriarchal, with a full flow of white hair and a jaunty bounce to his hurried gait.”

“A sparkling man absorbed in his own creation.”

Finally, his trusted long-time assistant Virginia Heaphy said, “He never iffed and biffed. If something happened, he would go on to the next project. He would go on to correct the situation.”

HIGH FIVE

Let’s dig into a couple of impressive “fivers,” five accomplishments bunched together that are way up there on anyone’s all-time list.

• The top five drivers in North America entering the final 10 days of April have never led before at year’s end:

1. Jason Bartlett

2. Matt Kakaley

3. Jordan Stratton

4. Aaron Merriman

5. Trace Tetrick

• John Campbell won five races on May 24, 1979 at The Meadowlands. He was the first driver to win five and also capture his first $100G event on the same night in the $108,000 Oliver Wendell Holmes with Merry Isle.

• Tim Tetrick won five of his first 10 Meadowlands Pace drives.

• Jimmy Takter and Yannick Gingras took the Hambletonian Oaks five straight years from 2014-2018:

2014 — Lifetime Pursuit ($22.00)

2015 — Wild Honey ($4.60)

2016 — All The Time ($9.20)

2017 — Ariana G ($2.40)

2018 — Manchego ($4.40)

Only retirement stopped Takter from possibly extending it.

• Finally, in a three-year span (1984-1986), Bill O’Donnell won five million-dollar races with five favorites:

1984 — Woodrow Wilson — Nihilator ($2,161,000)

1985 — Meadowlands Pace — Nihilator ($1,018,000)

1985 — Governor’s Cup — Barberry Spur ($1,357,500)

1985 — Hambletonian — Prakas ($1,272,000)

1986 — Governor’s Cup — Redskin ($1,513,500)

Note: Never again did the Governor’s Cup go for a million. Nihilator set the track record in both the Wilson and the Pace. Prakas set the Hambletonian record of 1:54.3 the same hour Nihilator lowered the world race mark to 1:49.3 and Redskin still owns the $1.4 million freshman single season money mark.