A field of six contested
the $400,000 TVG Pacing Championship.
Off the wings of the gate, five of the six free for all pacers tried to
leave for position. The only horse
content to watch the action early was Bettor’s Edge. That strategy by Matt Kakaley turned out to
be the winning one as Bettor’s Edge stormed down the center of the track, from
dead last, to score a 19-1 upset in the TVG Pacing Championship.
The first horse to the
lead was Mach It So, who took all the late-money being released as the 4.5
favorite. He used every ounce of his
speed to clear the lead from the widest post in the field, reaching the opening
quarter in a sharp 26.1. But the
second-choice in the wagering, JK Endofanera was already on the move and he
quickly challenged for the lead down the backstretch and would clear the front
before the half mile in 54 seconds.
Meanwhile, Somewhere In L A was headstrong in the three-hole and Corey
Callahan could not hold his gelding and was forced to commit first over. Foiled Again picked up the cover in the outer
flow, while Bettor’s Edge inched closer into the third over position. JK Endofanera led past three-quarters in
1:22.2 while facing pressure from Somewhere In LA. As the field turned for home, the free for
all pacers spread across the track and all took their shots. Mach It So found room at the pylons, Foiled
Again tried to kick off cover, JK Endofanera reached for the wire and Mach It
So was rallying down the center of the track.
In the end, Bettor’s Edge out-sprinted the talented field to win going away
in 1:50 with Matt Kakaley. Mach It So
rallied up the pylons for the runner-up spot while Foiled Again finished third.
Matt Kakaley was pleased
to finally get a trip for his six year old getting. “He really has had a lot of bad luck,” said
Kakaley. “We have been trapped in a few
times where he was finishing with pace, but we just had bad luck in those
races. Tonight they were mixing it up
early and it really set up well for us.
It worked out absolutely perfectly.”
Trainer Ron Burke
confirmed that both Bettor’s Edge and Foiled Again will head to North Carolina
for the winter and will return for the 2016 racing season. The win in the TVG Pacing Championship was
the third stakes win on the night for trainer Ron Burke.
The win was the 26th
in the career of Bettor’s Edge, sending his lifetime earnings to nearly $1.8
Million.
Resolve Trots the Race of His Life in TVG
Trotting Championship
There have been a lot of
questions regarding the older trotters and just who would assume command of the
division. After Saturday night, Resolve
answered all those questions and jumped to the head of the class, winning the
TVG Free For All Trotting Championship in 1:51.4 for Ake Svanstedt.
In similar fashion to
his win in the final preliminary leg last week, Resolve moved to the lead
shortly after the opening quarter, which was reached in 27 seconds by longshot
DW’s NY Yank. Once on the lead, Resolve
was allowed to relax.
The same could not be
said for E L Titan who got caught in some traffic down the backstretch and ended
up three wide, trotting toward the half mile.
Tim Tetrick guided E L Titan to the first over position after racing
three wide, crossing in front of Obrigado with The Bank in the outer flow. But Resolve was able to back the field down
with a 29.3 second quarter, reaching the half-mile in 56.3. E L Titan, in the
final start of his career was applying pressure, but Ake Svanstedt had plenty
of horse in front of him and Resolve began to edge away, trotting past
three-quarters in 1:25. The stretch
drive was a mere formality as Resolve began to pour it on, winning by three
lengths in the end, trotting a final quarter of 26.4 to complete the mile in
1:51.4.
“He’s a very good
horse,” said owner/trainer Ake Svanstedt.
“He is getting closer and closer to Sebastian K with every start. He is just a four year old beating the older
horses, he should be really good next year.”
Obrigado held the
runner-up position while Flanagan Memory rallied from last to be third.
The win was the fourth
of the season for Resolve. He finishes
his four year old campaign with earnings of $706,938 this season.
Resolve was trained and
driven by Ake Svanstedt for owner Hans Enggren.
Boston Red Rocks Makes His Case For Divisional
Honors
Going into the Breeders
Crown Final, Boston Red Rocks wasn’t on anyone's radar in terms of the two year
old pacing championship. It is safe to
say that over the past month, that has changed.
Sent off as the
even-money favorite, Boston Red Rocks was allowed to settle mid-pack while
elimination winner, Big Top Hanover established the pace through an opening
quarter in 27-seconds. When the field
straightened away in the backstretch, driver Tim Tetrick popped the plugs and
Boston Red Rocks unleashed his turn of foot and flew to the lead, reaching the
half-mile in a sharp 55-seconds. The
outer flow was slow to develop, but that didn’t prevent the race favorite from
sprinting a 27.3 third quarter, with the 8/5 second choice Big Top Hanover on
his back. Into the stretch, Boston Red
Rocks got separation on the field and reached for the line, holding off the
other elimination winner Katies Rocker to win in a lifetime best 1:50.3.
The win was the fourth
in nine starts for the two year old son of Rocknroll Hanover. Tim Tetrick has been impressed with the colt
over his past few starts. “He doesn’t do his best work on the front end, it’s
really not where he wants to be,” said Tetrick.
“But, I knew I had to go forward off the gate. He really likes to chase horses though.” Looking ahead to next year, Tetrick said the
upside is there. “He can shoot for the
skies next year.”
Boston Red Rocks is
trained by Steve Elliot for owners Peter Blood and Rick Berks.
Katies Rocker was second
and Big Top Hanover held on to the show spot.
Win Photo Cannot Separate Winners of Valley
Victory
They say there are few
moments in sports that can rival the photo finish and the $489,400 Valley
Victory Final certainly was representative of that statement. In the end, the win photograph couldn’t
decide a winner, because the noses of Dog Gone Lucky and Make Or Miss hit the
wire together, a dead heat in the richest race of the night.
For Dog Gone Lucky, the
win belonged to Chuck Sylvester and for Make Or Miss, the story was his young
pilot Joe Bongiorno. The irony,
Sylvester was winning Hambletonians before Bongiorno was born and now they both
set their eyes on harness racing’s greatest prize in 2016.
Dog Gone Lucky made an
aggressive move to the lead, after Mavens Way made a break after a quarter in
27 seconds. In the meantime, Make Or
Miss had nearly 10 lengths to make up, trotting in eighth position down the
backstretch. Then, the outer flow began
to develop as Taco Tuesday committed first over passed the half in just 57
seconds, a 30-second second quarter. Marion Marauder picked up that cover and
Make Or Miss tracked the pair on the far turn while Dog Gone Lucky reached
three-quarters in 1:26. Dog Gone Lucky
opened up a clear lead in the stretch after a 59-second middle half, but just
as he did, Make Or Miss found his best stride and put that electric turn of
foot on display as he began to reel in the favorite. However, the wire was also
coming quickly and it came just as both noses hit the wire, a dead heat in
1:54.
Joe Bongiorno was nearly
speechless in the winner’s circle. “This
is beyond amazing, I can’t believe it,” said Bongiorno. “I just want to thank all the connections for
giving me the opportunity, this is the best moment in my life.” Not to be out-done, trainer Chuck Sylvester
reminded that he isn’t done yet. “I’m
not retired yet,” Sylvester joked.
“These horses will get a well-deserved break and hopefully we’ll back
(for the Hambletonian) next year.
The win was the first
major stakes win for Bongiorno and the fifth win in the Valley Victory for
Sylvester. It was the second victory for
Make Or Miss, the son of Donato Hanover who now has earnings of over $223,000
while Dog Gone Lucky won for the seventh time and his fifth in a row, with his
earnings now beyond a half-million dollars.
Make Or Miss is trained
by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable, Our Horse Cents Stables, Weaver Bruscemi
and Jerry and Theresa Silva. Dog Gone
Lucky was driven by Corey Callahan for trainer Chuck Sylvester and owners Amy
Lynn Stoltzfus and Charles E Stansley.
Mission Brief Concludes Season with a Statement
The buzz around the
$144,000 Continentalvictory was centered on two fillies, Mission Brief and Wild
Honey, hoping to earn divisional honors with a compelling performance. Mission Brief seized that opportunity and performed
like a champion. Sent off as the
prohibitive 1/9 choice, Mission Brief was hustled to the lead early in the mile
and it was a lead she would never relinquish.
Sprinting past a quarter
in 27.4, Mission Brief and her pilot Yannick Gingras kicked away from Wild
Honey down the backstretch and Wild Honey felt whip taps from her driver John
Campbell just to try to keep up. In the
meantime, Mission Brief was trotting smoothly on the lead past the half-mile in
56 seconds and she began to open up on the field on the far turn, reaching three-quarters
in 1:24.1 while leading the field by four lengths. From there, Mission Brief had the Meadowlands
homestretch all to herself and she trotted a 27.2 final quarter under no urging
to win the Continentalvictory in 1:51.3 in the final start of her season, a win
that put Mission Brief past $1 Million this season.
“She’s the best trotter
in training,” exclaimed driver Yannick Gingras in a post-race interview. “No
disrespect to any of the older trotters, but I wish she was in that race
tonight. I don’t think any of them want
any part of her.”
Ron Burke was beaming
with pride in the winner’s circle as well.
“She’s the best horse I’ve ever had,” said Burke. “Next year is going to be tough, she is going
to face all the good ones and I am not going to duck anyone. We are going to find out if she is as good as
we all think she is.”
With the win, Mission
Brief concludes her season with 10 wins from 14 starts and earnings of
$1,001,317. For her career, the star
filly has 19 wins from 27 races and earnings of nearly $1.6 Million. She is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Our
Horse Cents Stables, Jerry and Theresa Silva and Weaver Bruscemi. Wild Honey completed the exacta with Kelsey’s
Keepsake and Lady Winona completing the field.
Divine Caroline Triumphant in the Tarport Hap
An overflow field of 12
contested the $173,500 Tarport Hap at 1 1/8th miles on Saturday
night at The Meadowlands. The race was
hotly contested with no less than five lead changes from start to finish. The last lead change belonged to Divine
Caroline, who took over in the shadow of the wire and scored the victory in
2:05.1 after the mile was paced in 1:50.1.
There was plenty of
speed early, with Single Me launching from post 10 and reaching the first
quarter in 26-seconds. From there, Rock
Me Gently would move to the lead briefly, before Bettor N Better cleared the
front past the half-mile in 54.4. Next
to the lead would be the 9/5 favorite Bedroomconfessions, who guided the field
past three-quarters in 1:22.2. That move
left Sassa Hanover uncovered first over with Divine Caroline stalking from a
second over position. It took the length
of the stretch, but Divine Caroline would use the long Meadowlands stretch to
wear down Bedroomconfessions to earn the victory. Bettor N Better finished third.
The victory was the
eighth on the season for the three year old daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven for
trainer Joe Holloway who was very pleased with the win. “I think that wrapped
up the division for her with this win,” said Holloway. “I thought she was in a good spot and it took
her a while to get there but she got it done.”
Holloway confirmed that Divine Caroline would return to the racetrack in
2016 as a four year old.
Divine Caroline is owned
by Val D’Or Farms, Ted Gewertz, Rojan Stables and M.A. Ouriel. Her seasonal earnings conclude at $673,339.
It was worth sticking
around for the last race for Wallington, New Jersey resident Joseph Bohnarczyk,
whose $20 Win and $10 Place and Show Wager on Buckeye In Charge at 39-1
launched him to a win in the World Harness Handicapping Championship Qualifier
that took place on Saturday night at The Meadowlands. He earned a berth into the Championship event
on April 30, 2016 at The Meadowlands and took home $1,764 in prize money in
addition to his bankroll which was over $1,100.
Total handle for the
14-race program was $2,941,258.
Racing resumes on Friday
night, with first post time at 7:00 P.M.
