By Mike
Farrell, for the Meadowlands
EAST
RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- After two rounds, Always B Miki remains the undisputed
champion of the Free-For-All pacers.
The 5-year-old
again affirmed his standing as the king of what has become harness racing’s
glamour division, improving to 2-0 in the second high-profile matchup with
Wiggle It Jiggleit and Freaky Feet Pete.
Always B Miki
took command down the backstretch with a powerful brush past Wiggle It Jiggleit
and went on to a three-quarter length victory over 39-1 shot Shamballa in the
$471,800 William R. Haughton Memorial Saturday night at The
Meadowlands.
Always B Miki
($2.80 as the 2/5 favorite) posted his fourth straight win, pacing the mile and
an eighth in 2:01.1 in the 12-horse field to improve his season mark to 6-2-0
in eight starts for trainer Jimmy Takter and the ownership team of Bluewood
Stable, Roll The Dice Stable and Christina Takter.
“He’s just a
fantastic horse to do what he does,” Jimmy Takter said. “He’s gone through a
lot. It takes a special horse to come back from all the injuries he had. It
gets me very emotional every time I see him race.”
The most
surprising aspect of the Haughton was the determined showing by Shamballa, who
ranged up first-over to challenge Always B Miki and hung in gamely right to the
finish.
Wiggle It
Jiggleit, stung by a :25.3 opening quarter while forced three-wide as he worked
his way to the front from post 10, finished third.
Freaky Feet
Pete was fourth.
The stage for
the Haughton was set in the Ben Franklin Pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun
Pocono on July 2. Always B Miki won that first meeting, a 1:47 mile
equaling the world record.
Wiggle It
Jiggleit, the defending Horse of the Year, bested Freaky Feet Pete last weekend
in the Graduate over the sloppy track at Big M, a race restricted to
4-year-olds.
Returning
after the week off, Always B Miki delivered another dynamite performance as
the leader in the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll again
cemented his grip on the top spot.
