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Slow growth

US gross domestic product grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012, the Commerce Dept. said. That marked a slowdown from the 3 percent growth rate of the 2011 fourth quarter.

Fighting back

Jerome Kerviel, found guilty for a $6.5 billion trading loss at Société Générale, plans to file a complaint claiming evidence was tampered with during the probe.

Bezos lassoed

Amazon.com, led by CEO Jeff Bezos, has agreed to begin collecting sales tax from Texas customers beginning July 1. Earlier this week, Amazon agreed to collect a sales tax on items sold in Nevada, beginning in 2014.

KKR rising

KKR, the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, said first-quarter profit rose 4.6 percent, beating estimates.

Snake eyes

Resort operator Kerzner International completed a long-awaited restructuring that transferred its massive Atlantis resort in The Bahamas to its creditors and sold its half-interest in the Atlantis in Dubai to partner Istithmar World PJSC.

Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click For Restrictions

Commerce Dept., CEO Jeff Bezos, gross domestic product, Amazon, Kerzner International, Henry Kravis, growth rate, George Roberts

Nypost.com

Kevin Kernan
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Eventually, the Yankees’ starting pitching will run this team smack into a brick wall.

It may not happen until late in the season. It may not happen until October, but the Yankees must clean up their rotation — and it’s going to take more than the return of Andy Pettitte.

Once again, the bats saved a starting pitcher as the Yankees twice came from behind to beat the Tigers, 7-6 last night at Yankee Stadium, when the ageless Derek Jeter scored on a passed ball for the walk-off win.

The Yankees managed to hit two home runs against Detroit ace Justin Verlander, who had not given up a home run all season. One was hit by Alex Rodriguez in the fourth, the other by Russell Martin in the fifth. Verlander has never won at the new Yankee Stadium.

SUNRISE, Fla — They stumbled, they fell on their faces, they knocked it over, but finally, the Devils have cleared their first playoff hurdle in five years.

The Devils were stretched to a seventh game for the 10th time by the valiant Panthers, blew another two-goal lead but were rescued by rookie Adam Henrique’s winner at 3:47 of double overtime for the dramatic 3-2 victory at 12:17 a.m this morning.

New Jersey will open the second round, which it hadn’t reached since 2007, in Philadelphia Sunday. The Flyers beat up and beat down the Stanley Cup favorite Penguins in the first round.

AP

YEAH! Adam Henrique (right) gets hugged by teammate Marek Zidlicky after scoring the game-winning goal in the Devils’ 3-2 double-overtime victory over the Panthers in Game 7 last night in Sunrise, Fla.

“Winning a playoff series goes a long way,” Martin Brodeur said after his 43-save night. “It’s the confidence, and sometimes you need the adversity.

“From ’95 to 2000, we weren’t able to get out of the first round [except 1997], either. Then we went to 2000 and we did a lot of good [Stanley Cup]. The first round, if you get through that, it feels pretty good.”

Then he grimaced.

“Then you have to face the Flyers,” said Brodeur, 2-8 in his last 10 playoff games against Philadelphia, and 1-3 [all this season] against them over the past two seasons.

Henrique, a finalist for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, scored twice in the gut-check Game 7, and his teammates won’t be calling him rookie much more.

“Maybe some guys did, but now, what’s the difference?” said Henrique, who helped rescue the team’s season when No. 1 center Travis Zajac missed 65 games from Achilles tendon surgery.

Henrique, who was a playoff hero in junior, said he was not shy about visualizing himself the series-winner.

“Yeah, why not?” he said. “Somebody has to be the hero. Why not me?”

Henrique’s game-winner was fired between the legs of Jose Theodore, ending the Devils’ 10th-ever foray to double overtime, and giving them their fourth straight such victory.

“I think I blacked out when I heard the thud at the back of the net,” Henrique said.

New Jersey took its 2-0 lead on goals by Henrique in the first and Stephen Gionta in the second, before the Panthers struck twice on third period power- play goals from Stephen Weiss and Marcel Goc, forcing overtime for the second straight game. The scenario was the same as in Game 6, when they also wasted a 2-0 lead, only to win 3-2 in single overtime.

It made first-time series winners of Ilya Kovalchuk and coach Pete DeBoer, who accomplished what Brent Sutter and Jacques Lemaire, in 2009 and 2010, couldn’t manage, finally winning a round. New Jersey had lost its last four series, three since moving from the Meadowlands, besides missing the playoffs altogether last season,

The Devils completed their third comeback from a 3-2 series deficit, ending a 28-game drought of failing to win consecutive playoff games. The Devils squared their Game 7 record at 7-7, improving to 4-5 on the road, where they hadn’t won a seventh game since 2003 in Ottawa. They lost their previous seventh game, in 2009 to Carolina.

After snapping an 0-5 streak of failing to survive an elimination situation with victory in Game 6 in Newark, the Devils made it two straight over the Panthers, a team they topped by eight points during the regular season. They ended a stretch of 28 straight playoff games without consecutive wins.

Theodore returned to the Panthers’ net after sitting out Game 6 with an unspecified injury, suspected to involve a leg.

Henrique put the Devils in front 1:29 in with his first playoff goal. He deflected Anton Volchenkov’s left point shot, which ultimately went in off Florida defenseman Ed Jovanovski.

Gionta, whose only regular-season action came in the season finale, spending the rest of the season in Albany, gave the Devils their second at 9:45 of the second, grabbing Peter Harrold’s blocked shot to backhand his second career playoff goal past Theodore’s glove.

Florida had only two shots in the second period, after outscoring Jersey 9-2 in the prior six second period. But their 19-shot third was coming.

Weiss launched the Panthers’ comeback by scoring from the right circle at 5:12 of the third on a 4-on-3 power play. Marek Zidlicky was off for shooting the puck out of the rink when Goc forced overtime with 3:28 left, rebounding Sean Bergenheim’s power-play shot.

mark.everson@nypost.com

Adam Henrique, the Devils, the Devils, Panthers, Panthers, Devils, Devils, Henrique, Marek Zidlicky, playoff games, playoff games, playoff goal, double overtime

Nypost.com

This may have been only the first step in the journey of a million miles to the middle of June and the Stanley Cup, but what a momentous first step it was for the Rangers, who won a thrilling Game 7 against the Senators the only way they know how:

As Black-and-Blueshirts.

This 2-1 triumph in front of a Garden crowd whose roars created a rolling crescendo of noise was not only a springboard into the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Capitals that will begin on Broadway tomorrow, it was a reaffirmation of the collective soul of the team that finished first in the East with 109 points.

NHLI via Getty Images

DAN THE MAN: Dan Girardi fires a shot past Senators goalie Craig Anderson for what proved to be the game-winning goal in the Rangers’ series-clinching win. Left, Girardi celebrates with Brandon Prust.

“There was a level of desperation there when they kept coming at us those last 10 minutes and had us pinned in for shifts at a time, but we knew that if we just played the way we play that we would be fine,” said Dan Girardi, who not only played a massive game in his own end, but scored at 9:04 of the second period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead and it proved to be the winner.

“We clogged the middle, we kept them to the outside, we got in their lanes, we blocked shots, we got in their faces and when they were able to get shots through, Hanky [Lundqvist] made the big saves like he has all year,” said Girardi, who had three of his team’s 23 blocked shots.

The Senators got one goal back before the end of the second, when Daniel Alfredsson scored on a power play drive at 11:34. Do the math: The Rangers, who had lost two games already in which they’d held a lead, had 28:26 in which to protect and preserve in order to advance past the first round for the first time since 2008, when Tom Renney was behind the bench.

“We were a confident group going into the third,” said Ryan Callahan, who combined with Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider to form an irrepressible, indefatigable unit that was on the puck on seemingly every shift.

“We knew we would face a desperate team in the third period. We knew they would surge playing for their season, but we also knew what we could do and we knew we had Hank.”

Lundqvist was outstanding in the face of the Ottawa surge, with his most spectacular save coming just 4:30 into the third, when he got his right shoulder on Milan Michalek’s point-blank drive. There was another beauty at 9:50, when the King got his left pad out on Filip Kuba’s left circle shot after the Rangers simply could not clear the zone.

And then yet another denial on Michalek, who had no kick coming when Lundqvist got his blocker on a wrist shot from in front with 5:45 to play and the Garden in an uproar that could have been heard all the way up on the Rideau Canal.

“When you work so hard, you want to keep playing and you don’t want to think this could be the end or how much this means to you or the fans or the players,” the King said. “You try to block it out, but sometimes it’s hard to block it.

“The way we played the whole game, it was just a war the last five minutes.”

Lundqvist moves on to the second round for the third time, after doing so in 2007 and 2008. He, Callahan, Girardi, Marc Staal (who scored the first goal off a spectacular feed from Stepan at 4:46 of the second) and Brandon Dubinsky (who did not play the final 11 minutes after appearing to suffer a leg injury) are the only Rangers to have previously won a round wearing the Blueshirt.

“I said after we lost [in the first round to Washington in five games] last year, that time flies and you have to grab onto every opportunity because you don’t know how many you are going to get,” Lundqvist said. “I came into this season determined that this was going to be the year we did this as a group.

“When we went into Ottawa losing 3-2, facing elimination and played the way we did [in winning Game 6 on Monday] I could tell we had something special as a team and that overcoming that would make us stronger.”

Eight teams win in the first round. Only one team wins the Cup. Last night was just the first step. But what a momentous step it was on this Night to Remember on Broadway.

larry.brooks@nypost.com

Dan Girardi, Rangers, Lundqvist, Lundqvist, Girardi, Girardi, Senators, Derek Stepan, Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, Ryan Callahan

Nypost.com

Best Bet: Eagle Now (8th)

FIRST: mile; pace; $10000; cl($4000)

3 Paragon

(GMerton)

3-4-2

5-2

1 Out To Kill A

(KDIBenedetto)

1-4-3

3-1

7 M D Bee Bee

(JMarohn)

6-8-6

9-2

2 MillionDollarBay

(KSwitzrJr)

5-4-2

6-1

4 Rare Display

(JTaggartJr)

1-8-1

7-2

5 Our Connor MacN

(JStratton)

2-5-2

4-1

6 Farewell Sky

(JMarohnJr)

4-8-4

8-1

8 Happyending

(MMerton)

5-2-3

10-1

SECOND: mile; pace; $3400; cond

3 Tim Whiskers

(KSwitzerJr)

6-2-1

5-2

1 L M XKR

(MForte)

3-7-7

3-1

2 Arts Mattjesty

(JPrimeau)

4-6-5

7-2

4 Dvc Gifted Indeed

(JDevaux)

2-4-2

4-1

5 Whata Rock

(JMarohnJr)

6-3-4

6-1

6 Paulimony

(WParkerJr)

2-7-5

9-2

7 My Edward

(GMerton)

6-3-1

12-1

8 CheynneBogart

(JTaggartJr)

4-5-6

10-1

THIRD: mile; pace; $4000; cl($2300)

5 Briars Return

(JTaggartJr)

1-4-1

5-2

2 Real Navigator

(JMarohnJr)

3-1-2

3-1

7 KeystoneSwnger

(ASchwrtz)

4-7-5

10-1

1 Mr Socks

(GMerton)

4-4-1

4-1

3 Kamwood Jasper N

(RHarp)

6-2-4

8-1

4 Cheyenne Ryan

(KSwitzerJr)

5-2-2

5-1

6 Full of Heart

(GDeckerJr)

5-6-1

12-1

8 Sun Moon Lake

(WParkerJr)

1-1-3

7-2

FOURTH: mile; pace; $4300; cond

1 RedneckRivier

(KDIBenedett)

3-6-6

5-2

4 Speakin Greek

(GMerton)

1-5-2

3-1

6 Break Dancer

(JTaggartJr)

4-2-6

4-1

2 Joans Bad Boy

(WParkerJr)

6-8-6

8-1

3 Hot Pistol

(JMarohnJr)

6-5-1

9-2

5 Duncans Western

(MForte)

2-8-5

7-2

7 Life of Ease

(RPetitto)

2-4-1

12-1

8 Delco Tross

(RHarp)

5-2-6

10-1

FIFTH: mile; pace; $4000; cond

1 Town Treasure

(MForte)

4-2-5

5-2

6 Act of Heaven

(JTaggartJr)

7-3-8

3-1

4 Bobs Alibi

(JStratton)

7-6-8

4-1

2 Aruba Sunset

(JDevaux)

8-4-6

9-2

3 Halsey Hanover

(KSwitzerJr)

2-3-2

10-1

5 Rich N Flashy

(WParkerJr)

1-6-7

7-2

7 Wantasmile

(SMcaleese)

8-7-3

12-1

SIXTH: mile; pace; $3400; cond

1 Mighty River A

(KSwitzerJr)

7-4-5

5-2

7 RooRooRusty

(KDIBenedtto)

2-1-5

3-1

2 Eusebio

(AAdamczyk)

9-8-7

10-1

3 Jezal Theory A

(JMarohnJr)

2-3-3

4-1

4 Wilson Jay N

(GMerton)

8-5-1

9-2

5 Cosmic IllusionN

(WParkrJr)

1-1-8

7-2

6 CamcrackerDynasty

(MFrte)

6-7-8

6-1

8 Five Star Stud

(JTaggartJr)

3-5-6

12-1

SEVENTH: mile; pace; $2700; cond

1 FischersMajorrisk

(WPrkrJr)

1-4-2

9-2

7 Jadestone

(KSwitzerJr)

1-3-1

5-2

6 Cockney Hanover

(JDevaux)

78-6

3-1

2 Thin Blue Line

(JStratton)

5-6-7

10-1

3 Tigers Destiny

(JMarohn)

4-3-5

8-1

4 FoxValleyRper

(KDIBendett)

5-4-1

4-1

5 Joshuas Jet

(JTaggartJr)

2-5-4

7-2

8 Top Flight

(JSherota)

8-5-7

12-1

EIGHTH: mile; pace; $5400; cond

3 Eagle Now

(JStratton)

1-6-6

5-2

2 Ol Man River

(MForte)

5-4-5

10-1

1 Game Jocko

(JTaggartJr)

4-4-3

7-2

4 Gone Baby Gone

(WParkerJr)

2-2-1

3-1

5 AllTrickedOut

(KDIBenedett)

1-8-5

4-1

6 Racsan Matt

(JDevaux)

6-2-1

9-2

7 Freedom Soldier

(KSwitzrJr)

3-7-8

6-1

8 AheadoftheCurve

(CStrattn)

4-4-2

8-1

NINTH: mile; pace; $4000; cl($2000)

1 Poncho and Lefty

(CStratton)

2-7-2

4-1

5 P H Hotshot

(MMerton)

5-1-6

6-1

3 See You Smile

(WParkerJr)

8-2-5

5-2

2 MichaelCHnover

(JTaggrtJr)

6-5-3

7-2

4 Scarlet Champion

(MForte)

5-1-5

9-2

6 Aristotle

(JDevaux)

4-8-4

10-1

7 Gallant Guy N

(KSwitzerJr)

4-4-2

12-1

8 Amazida

(JMarohn)

1-3-8

8-1

TENTH: mile; pace; $2700; cond

2 Truponder

(WParkerJr)

7-6-4

9-2

8 Imposter A

(MForte)

1-1-1

5-2

6 Hunter Hylight

(JMarohnJr)

2-4-1

12-1

1 Come Home Honey

(RHarp)

6-5-8

4-1

3 Master N DSkies

(JTaggartJr)

1-8-8

7-2

4 In Ethans Honor

(KSwitzerJr)

4-6-7

10-1

5 L Flaviadi

(JDevaux)

7-5-6

6-1

7 Bay Street

(MMerton)

2-6-8

3-1

ELEVENTH: mile; pace; $3400; cond

2 Star Power

(WParkerJr)

1-2-2

5-2

1 Real Liar

(RVinci)

3-2-2

7-2

3 Four Star Tommy

(MMerton)

6-2-4

3-1

4 May Day Jojo

(SMcaleese)

3-6-5

8-1

5 Comanche Hall

(KSwitzerJr)

6-3-1

12-1

6 BehindEnmyLines

(JDevaux)

7-7-3

4-1

7 Littlebettor

(CStratton)

1-2-6

10-1

8 Badlands andArt

(JTaggrtJr)

5-4-8

9-2

TWELFTH: mile; pace; $2000; cond

2 In The Mix

(GMerton)

3-6-4

5-2

5 Smooth Eric N

(JDevaux)

6-2-5

3-1

7 MorWinningWys

(GDeckerJr)

6-3-3

10-1

1 Redneck Romeo

(CStratton)

8-6-7

7-2

3 JD S Tycoon

(WParkerJr)

6-7-5

9-2

4 Tidewater Moses

(MForte)

5-8-2

12-1

6 Richess King

(KSwitzerJr)

5-7-2

8-1

8 Badlands Josh

(SMcaleese)

5-3-4

4-1
Nypost.com

MetLife said it swung to a first-quarter loss on increased derivative losses, releasing the preliminary results nearly two weeks ahead of schedule after inadvertently posting some quarterly data on its website late Wednesday.

Operating earnings, which exclude investment gains and losses, climbed in the period and topped estimates, though operating revenue, which also strips out some investment effects, grew slower than expected.

MetLife, the biggest US life insurer, posted Wednesday some historical results on the investor-relations section of its website, and said it learned Thursday the data “could be accessed in ways to make visible” the preliminary quarterly results. So it released the preliminary results more broadly yesterday morning.

MetLife posted a loss of $64 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $877 million. On a per-share basis, which reflects the payment of preferred dividends, the company posted a loss of 9 cents, versus a profit of 66 cents. Operating earnings rose to $1.37 a share from $1.23. Operating revenue climbed 6.9 percent to $16.69 billion.

Analysts were looking for operating earnings of $1.25 a share and operating revenue of $16.72 billion.

MetLife, preliminary results, quarterly data, investment effects

Nypost.com

Godophin Stable’s Alpha, runner-up by a neck to Gemologist in the Wood Memorial, originally was scheduled to ship to Kentucky for the May 5 Derby last Monday, but his trip has been delayed until April 30 after a laceration Alpha suffered in the Wood became infected.

“He’s doing really well,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said yesterday. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re doing well.”

Instead of having his final Derby workout at Churchill Downs, Alpha will be breezed at Belmont Park.

Ramon Dominguez, who has been riding Alpha, must choose between him and Blue Grass runner-up Hansen for his Derby mount. Hansen’s owner, Dr. Kendall Hansen, told The Post he’s about 90 percent sure Dominguez will stick with his colt. But if not, Rafael Bejarano will likely get the call.

To Honor and Serve, who concluded his 3-year-old campaign with a victory in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct last November, will make his first start this year for trainer Bill Mott in next Saturday’s Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont. He broke his maiden there as a 2-year-old by 8¾ lengths.

SECOND RACE: Early money was the smart money. Sing Dixie Sing, pounded late from 9-5 to 4-5 stretching out to seven furlongs off two daylight scores going six, gunned to the front under Junior Alvarado, chased by 10-1 Easy Ending, double-bug Jose Ortiz up. Sing Dixie Sing still led by daylight into the turn, when Easy Ending and Wildcat’s Smile, who drifted late from 4-5 to 7-5, came after her. Those three were across the track at the top of the stretch, then Wildcat’s Smile, making her first start for Dominic Galluscio since she was beaten a nose in the Nov. 26 Demoiselle, took command in the final furlong; first of three winners on the card for Javier Castellano.

SEVENTH RACE: Going a mile on turf, Strategic Missile, 64-1 in his first start since Nov. 13, gunned to the front under double-bug Wilmer Garcia and shook loose on the lead down the backstretch, chased by 2-1 Singn On Themoon, with another big gap back to the rest of the field. Singn On Themoon, Rosie Napravnik up, went after Strategic Missile turning for home and drove to the lead in midstretch. But she could not withstand the late outside rally of Magical Cat, John Velazquez up, first time Lasix and favored at 2-1 in her first U.S. start for new trainer John Terranova since finishing second in Ireland last August.

EIGHTH RACE: Crown the Chief, 14-1 stretching out from six furlongs to seven, rushed up the rail down the backside to set the pace, pressed by 7-2 Hewitt, David Cohen up. Hewitt bid for the lead turning for home, struck the front at the top of the stretch, battling past Crown the Chief as he dug in along the rail. Then inside the final furlong, He’s So Chic, who rallied for second going six furlongs last out, charged from last to first under Junior Alvarado at 9-2.

PICK SIX

Winning numbers:

7-7-8-2-3-6

3 winners (6 of 6)

Each paid $28,816

145 consolation (5 of 6)

Each paid $151.50

No carryover

Kendall Hansen, Sing Dixie Sing, Junior Alvarado, Derby, Kiaran McLaughlin, final furlong

Nypost.com

Nazareth won a second straight CHSAA Class AA state championship despite being inundated with tragedy. Beloved coach Apache Paschall died of cardiac arrest Jan. 3 and the school was set for closure in February.

Bishop Loughlin, dealing with its own tragedy, won the CHSAA Class A title. Former player Tayshana (Chicken) Murphy was murdered in September. Bishop Ford also had a big season.

In the PSAL, South Shore advanced back to the Class AA semifinals and Lincoln and Midwood were both quarterfinal teams. Goldstein earned a berth in the ‘A’ championship game. Poly Prep made it to the NYSAISAA final.

Denis Gostev

Nazareth's Brianna Butler is The Post's All-Brooklyn girls basketball Player of the Year.

Denis Gostev

Nazareth's assistant coaches Ron Kelley (l.) and Lauren Best are The Post's All-Brooklyn girls basketball Coaches of the Year.

All-Brooklyn girls basketball Player of the Year: Brianna Butler, Nazareth

There were so many obstacles that could have held Butler back. She transferred to Nazareth from Penn Charter (Pa.) only to be told she was ineligible to play before eventually being cleared. Then longtime coach Apache Paschall died of cardiac arrest in January and Butler played through a knee injury late in the year.

Through it all the Syracuse-bound guard was a model of consistency and was named a McDonald’s All-American. Butler made things look effortless and was as good a passer and rebounder as she was a scorer. When she returned from a knee injury late in the season, Nazareth went on to win the CHSAA Class AA state title.

“She’s a talented and gifted athlete,” Naz co-coach Lauren Best said. “Only now people are seeing how good she really is here. She’s already displayed it across the country.”

All-Brooklyn girls basketball Coach of the Year: Lauren Best and Ron Kelley, Nazareth

On Jan. 3, their lives were turned upside down. Best and Kelley, assistant coaches at Nazareth, were devastated by the sudden death of head coach Apache Paschall due to cardiac arrest. They were there by his bedside in the hospital and just days later had to flip the switch and get back into basketball mode as co-coaches.

Almost a month to the day later, Nazareth announced it would likely close in June for good. So on top of trying to win games, Best and Kelley were trying to find a destination for their players and themselves next year. They handled the impossible tasks with grace and ended up guiding Nazareth to a second straight CHSAA Class AA state title.

“When we win games like this and we win championships, I always think about him first,” Kelley said of Paschall.

FIRST TEAM

G Bianca Cuevas, Nazareth

The most electric, athletic scoring guard in New York City, Cuevas was a dynamic force at times for Nazareth en route to a CHSAA Class AA state title. She dropped 36 points on Christ the King in the regular season and 34 on Bishop Loughlin – and the 5-foot-6 superstar was only a sophomore.

Next >

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CHSAA Class AA state, CHSAA Class AA state, Beloved coach Apache Paschall, Brianna Butler, cardiac arrest, Ron Kelley, Apache Paschall, Nazareth, Class AA, Lauren Best, Bishop Ford, McDonald’s All-American

Nypost.com

With just four more days left at Aqueduct before racing begins at Belmont Park on Friday, April 27, Cornelio Velasquez and David Cohen are tied in the jockey standings with 18 winners; Eddie Castro (16) and Junior Alvarado (14) aren’t out of contention. Among trainers, Rudy Rodriguez and Bruce Brown are tied with 10, trailed by Rick Dutrow Jr. (9), and David Jacobson and Linda Rice (8).

THIRD RACE: Rein King, 5-1, took the lead into the clubhouse turn, then 1-2 favorite Eye On Jacob , second last out at Gulfstream Park in his first start since Aug. at Del Mar, dragged John Velazquez up to press the pace down the backside. Around the far turn, Eye On Jacob went after Rein King, with 5-1 Inflation Target, Alan Garcia up, rallying wide. As those three turned for home together, Velazquez, who still had a nice hold on Eye On Jacob, glanced in his rearview mirror; and when Johnny V. takes a peek back like that at the top of the stretch, it usually means he’s got the race won. As if on cue, Eye On Jacob — a 6-year-old son of A.P. Indy out of champion racemare Escena, making just his eighth career start — kicked clear through the stretch.

FIFTH RACE: In field of 10G filly claimers going a mile, Nolita — second at this level last out — opened at 1-5, drifted to 1-2, and quickly shook loose on the lead under Cornelio Velasquez, opening a big gap back to 17-1 Brownsteins chasing her in second. Heading into the far turn, Brownsteins, C.C. Lopez up, closed that gap and went after Nolita. For a moment, it looked like the race was on; but Nolita brushed back that challenge and opened up again, running off the TV screen down the stretch. Brownsteins was eased.

EIGHTH RACE: Get lucky with Chucky! Srumdiddlyumptious, 8-1 coming off a handy maiden score for Kelly Breen, gunned to a daylight lead under C.C. Lopez, chased by 12-1 Ballistic Sue, Castro up, who advanced to press the pace into the turn. Turning for home, Srumdiddlyumptious shook loose again, but 7-2 Victoria Lynn was coming at her to the outside under Javier Castellano. Victoria Lynn — who in 28 starts had just two wins, but seven seconds — looked like she’d go right by, but Srumdiddlyumptious dug in, turned back that bid and was pulling away again at the wire.

NINTH RACE: How bad was this bunch of New York-bred maidens going a mile on grass? The Thinker, beaten a neck at 1-5 at a mile over the inner dirt last out, was hammered to 2-5. He went to the front into the clubhouse turn under Alvarado, but — distracted by the geese on the course? — he blew the turn heading into the backside and drifted far out from the inner rail while dropping back to fourth. Despite that near-disaster, The Thinker got back into contention, swept to the lead at the top of the stretch and drew off.

PICK SIX

Winning numbers:

2-7-7-3-4-9

Winners paid $11,788

Consolation (5 of 6) paid 86.50

No carryover

Cornelio Velasquez, Cornelio Velasquez, Eddie Castro, Rick Dutrow Jr., David Jacobson, Junior Alvarado, Rein King, John Velazquez, Nolita, Rudy Rodriguez, David Cohen, Bruce Brown, Jacob, Victoria Lynn

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