When last seen, Radar
Contact was winning the Betsy Ross for Open Mare Pacers at Harrah's Philadephia
over some of the best older mares in training. She returned to The
Meadowlands Friday night and it should come as no surprise that she called the
Winners' Circle her home again.
Leaving from post
position nine in the $28,500 Open Handicap for the pacing mares, Radar Contact
was overlooked in the wagering despite her excellent form, escaping at 4-1.
With her typical partner, John Campbell in the bike, Radar Contact left
for position while her rival Inittowinafortune established the early lead
through a 26.4 opening quarter with Weeper in the pocket and Radar Contact
stalking the speed from mid-pack. Down the backstretch, Radar Contact
began to make her move, but Weeper was also in gear as that mare pulled the
pocket and Radar Contact found herself three-wide briefly nearing the half-mile
pole. Radar Contact grabbed the lead as the field passed the half-mile in
54.2 and he led the mares passed three quarters in 1:22.2. Weeper
remained just behind her throughout with Katie Said applying pressure first
over. In deep stretch, Radar Contact was able to keep Weeper in the
pocket as she powerfully paced to the wire for her 7th victory of the season in
1:49.2, a new lifetime mark for the seven year old. Weeper was second and
Katie Said was third.
Radar Contact has been
first or second in 15 of 17 starts this season, earning over $195,000.
She is owned by Charles Stillings and Dean Ehrgott and trained by Noel
Daley.
In other action, Iron
scored in his three year old debut, one of two wins on the card for trainer
Frank Antonacci. A Hambletonian hopeful, Iron displayed a strong turn of foot
winning in a sharp 1:53.4 while rallying without Tim Tetrick asking him for his
best. The win was one of three on the card for Tetrick.
Trainer Chris Ryder also
scored a hat-trick on the card and his was of the natural variety as Ryder
trainees won races four, five and six. Among those wins was Southwind
Poseidon who trotted to a lifetime best 1:52.3 performance.
Dave Miller also won
three races on the card, with John Campbell and Yannick Gingras both winning a
pair.
Friday night marked the
first round of the Cathedra Dot Com series for fillies and mares meeting the
condition of non-winners of $5,000 in their last five starts, or those that
have started more than six times at Freehold in 2015. The first leg was split
into three divisions, with Oceans Motion pulling off the upset in the first
division, Candy Styx N scoring a mild upset in the middle division and Real
Drama making it back to back victories in the third grouping.
Table Talk paced to a
sub-1:50 performance, winning an upper-level condition event for pacing mares
in a lifetime best 1:49.3 for Tim Tetrick.
On the wagering front
total handle for the Friday program reached $2,990,467, a near 15-percent
increase over 2014, with the on-track handle growing by nearly 20-percent.
Both Jackpot Super Hi-5 Carryovers continued to grow Friday night.
The 5th race carryover now stands at $146,080 while the last race
carryover grew to $121,232.
The 13-race Saturday
program features four divisions of the Graduate series, two for the four year
old pacers and two for the four year old trotters, a series that Father Patrick
will headline.
The Saturday action
begins at 9:30 with Breakfast with the Babies and the simulcast of the Belmont
Stakes in which the gates open at 10:30 A.M.
