East Rutherford, N.J. – While Yannick
Gingras captured both $250,000 Breeders Crown events for older distaffers on
Friday (October 28) at The Meadowlands, teaming up with Hannelore Hanover
($3.40) in the Mare Trot and Lady Shadow ($2.40) in the Mare Pace, all eyes
were on the showdown between pacing stalwarts Always B Miki and Wiggle It
Jiggleit in the $421,000 Open Pace.
The much-anticipated
showdown between the top two harness horses in the world lived up to the hype
as Always B Miki ($3.20) forged ahead by three-quarters of a length to
upend 2015 Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit to capture his second
straight $421,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace at The Meadowlands.
Wiggle It Jiggleit stormed to the lead
right from the gate and led throughout with Always B Miki right at his heels in
second place every step of the way until surging ahead to take the lead right
at the wire.
Always B Miki won in 1:49 after tracking
fractions of :27.1, :55.1, and 1:22.1. Wiggle It
Jiggleit and Always B Miki have met seven times this year with Always B Miki
now leading the head-to-head matchup at 4-3.
David Miller drove Always B Miki for the
Bluewood Stable, the Roll the Dice Stable, Christina Takter, and trainer Jimmy
Takter.
After using a middle move to take charge
from Bee a Magician, Hannelore Hanover found no serious challengers in a 1:53.3
victory in the Mare Trot, sprinting away from the field in the last eighth of a
mile to defeat Bee a Magician (Brian Sears) and Shake It Cerry (David Miller).
Hannelore Hanover is trained by Ron
Burke and owned by the Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Frank Baldachino,
and Jerry and Teresa Silva.
Gingras completed his Crown double in
the Mare Pace with Lady Shadow, the world-record holder at 1-1/8 miles by way
of her Golden Girls win in July. The Ron Adams trainee stalked an early duel
before pushing clear upon reaching the backstretch, and held sway for a 1:49.4
score over the late-rallying Sassa Hanover (Matt Kakaley) and staying Frost
Damage Blues (Brett Miller) while kept to task.
Lady Shadow, now a 27-time winner, is
owned by the partnership of Kryway, Atley, Gold, and the BFJ Stable.
In the $500,000 Open Trot, Flanagan
Memory ($10.60) flushed out heavy favorite Resolve (Åke Svanstedt) and waited
his turn to wear down the field to prevail by a length in 1:52.1. The Rene Dion
trainee angled off second-over cover off the far turn and trotted fastest of
all to the finish after Resolve briefly headed pacesetter Windsun Revenge
(Scott Zeron).
Liette Flanagan shares ownership of
Flanagan Memory with the winning conditioner.
Kindergarten prelims highlight undercard
A pair of Kindergarten Classic
preliminary events headlined the Friday undercard, with 2-year-old trotting
fillies vying for $10,000 in the night’s opener and freshman trotting colts and
geldings competing for an identical purse in the third event.
In the filly division, Feed Your Head
($7.20) pushed to the fore on approach to the backstretch, clearing Overdraft
Volo (Andy Miller) just upon completing a :29.1 first quarter mile. From that
point, the daughter of Muscle Hill and Flawless Bluestone refused to relinquish
control, evading her eight foes by two lengths and earning a lifetime mark of
1:55.4 in the act. Overdraft Volo parried a late bid from Crann Tara (Tim
Tetrick) to defend the runner-up spot by another three-quarters of a length.
Yannick Gingras once again drove Feed Your Head for Mellby Gard, Inc. and
trainer Jimmy Takter.
New Jersey Viking ($5.60) similarly made
virtually all the pace to capture the Kindergarten split for colts and geldings,
edging away from pocket rival Explosive Ridge to prevail in 1:55.3. The son of
Muscle Hill and Hall of Wishes achieved the lead after being strung out by
Explosive Ridge (David Miller) on the first turn, and New Jersey Viking would
subsequently parry a challenge from that foe in upper stretch under moderate
encouragement from Andy McCarthy while International Moni (Scott Zeron) rallied
belatedly to just miss Explosive Ridge for second. New Jersey Viking scored his
fifth career win by three lengths for trainer Åke Svanstedt and owners Knutsson
Trotting, Inc. and Jeff Gural’s Little E, LLC.
The Kindergarten Classic finals, with
trotters vying for a combined $350,000 in estimated purses, are scheduled for
next Saturday (November 5) at the Big M.
