With the majority of the
Meadowlands mainstay drivers at Mohawk for the North America Cup Eliminations,
full-fields and competitive racing led to one of the largest handle increases
of the year. At the end of the program, the $3,039,441 wagered was an
increase of $1,052,585 from the $1,986,856 bet on the same Saturday card in
2012. That marked an increase of 53-percent. The Saturday program ran the
same number of races, 13, as the year before. Live handle also showed an
increase.
On the racetrack, The Summer
Survivor Series for pacers headed up the Saturday night Meadowlands card with
the first of three legs leading into the June 29 final.
The
lightly raced Western Ideal colt Word Power posted another impressive win in
the first of two divisions, following his 1:50.1 maiden breaker with a wide
1:51.3 score, pacing his individual final half in a tick less than 53 seconds.
Corey
Callahan picked the drive up for the Remmen barn with the exodus of Meadowlands
regulars to Mohawk and kept the Word Power in the outer tier
following cover, tipping three wide around horses on the final
bend. He finished with something left and the future looks bright for
Canadian owner Bradley Grant's colt.
In the
other Survivor Series leg, Lucan Hanover exerted his dominance with an
authoritative 1:51.1 score over Roar for driver Mark Macdonald. Lucan
Hanover is trained by Casie Coleman and owned by West Wins Stable and Christine
Calhoun of Ontario, Canada.
The
Caramore Series got underway with four divisions, two of which were won by a
horse owned, trained and driven by Jeff Dauplaise. Andy Baran scored for
Dauplaise in 1:52.2, while Long Live Rock looked like the horse to beat in the
series, winning by four lengths in 1:51.2. The other Caramore winners
were Esprit De Kayjay A for Jim Pantaleano and Redneck Outlaw for Vincent
Ginsburg.
Racing
returns on Friday night, featuring the second rounds of the Summer Survivor
Series Trot, Cathedra Dot Com and Flower Child series, with Post Time at 7:15
P.M.
