The
Meadowlands unveiled a brand new series for female pacers on Friday named for
the talented race mare and Hall of Fame broodmare Artistic Vision. The first of
two scheduled $22,500 legs required the entrants be split into a pair of sevens
with the first division going post ward as a just five horse field after two
scratches in race two.
The
two hottest mares nominated to the series came in with unblemished 2014 records
and both drew into the first split. American In Paris won this battle,
outsprinting JK Letitgo in 1:51.3 over a track dulled by day long
rains.
Driver
Jim Morrill, Jr sent American In Paris to the top from her outside post through
the 27.1 first marker, then yielded to JK Letitgo who broke the next two beams
in 55:3 and 1:24.4. In the stretch, Morrill geared his charge up from the
pocket and the 26.4 final quarter was enough to edge by the stubborn
leader.
American
In Paris races out of the Ron Burke barn and is owned by Burke Racing in
partnership with Weaver Bruscemi.
The
second division was captured by Road Bet. Fresh off a third place finish
in the $63,000 Petticoat Final at Yonkers on Monday, Road Bet was aggressively
steered to the lead by her pilot Dave Miller. She set the pace unopposed
until odds-on favorite Art Ideal was guided out of the pocket prior to the 3/4
pole, after stalking Road Bet through fractions of 27.1 and 55.1. Road Bet
hit 3/4 in 1:24.2 and fought gamely to the wire, fending off Art Ideal through
the stretch and scoring in 1:52.1 in the slop. The winner is owned by W J
Donovan and trained by Chris Ryder. Grandview Hanover was third.
The
$30,000 Free-For-All Handicap Trot was the feature event on the card.
Quick Deal showed his customary early foot, ripping through fractions of
27.1 and 54.4. But the early tempo took its toll on the 3-1 favorite and
set things up for an upset. Drift Away, who sat the pocket with Andy
Miller behind the pace-setter, found room in the stretch and kicked through an
opening inside of World Cup, who made the lead following a first over grind.
In a hard-fought stretch battle, Drift Away hit the wire first, with
World Cup a game second and Baker Volo third. Undercover Strike ran into
traffic in the stretch and was finishing fastest of all to dead-heat with Quick
Deal for fourth. Drift Away is trained by Julie Miller for owner Brian
Gillespie.
Racing
resumes on Saturday with first post time at 7:15 P.M. Two divisions of
the Whata Baron series highlight the 13-race program.
