By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Driver Andy
Miller drove patiently in Friday night’s feature at the Meadowlands, and when
he asked Opulent Yankee for trot in the stretch, the Julie Miller trainee
responded in a big way, taking the $20,000 Preferred Handicap in a
season’s-best 1:52.4.
Coupled in the wagering due to common
ownership (Jeff Gural’s Little E group owns a piece of both), Opulent Yankee
and Gural Hanover were sent to the gate as the heavy 1-5 favorite. Gural
Hanover settled on the lead at the quarter, with Opulent Yankee sitting the
pocket and 2-1 second choice Melady’s Monet racing in the three hole.
In an abbreviated seven-horse field
with the best three horses racing on the front end, there was no movement as
Gural Hanover clicked off fractions of :27.4, :56.3 and 1:24.4.
Melady’s Monet, racing at the Big M
for the first time since April of last year, made the first move, tipping off
the rail for the stretch drive while shifting into high gear. With an eighth of
a mile to go, Andy Miller swung Opulent Yankee to the outside and easily went
by a tired Gural Hanover to record a 1-length win. Melady’s Monet was second in
what was a good-looking Meadowlands return. Gural Hanover held third.
The winner returned $2.60 to his
backers for owners Little E LLC, Arthur Geiger and David Stolz, and now has
three victories this year in four tries. Lifetime, the 7-year-old gelded son of
Muscles Yankee has won 21 of 85 starts and earned $411,295.
HISTORY MAKER: Seventy-four-year-old Terry Morgan
guided 36-1 shot Master Of The Hill to victory lane in the third race, and by
doing so, became the first driver in Meadowlands history to win a race in both
1976 (the track’s opening year) and 2018.
A LITTLE MORE: Prolific pools and payouts continued
in the Big M’s popular multi-leg wagers. The 20-Cent Survivor Pick 10 attracted
$16,711 in action, and with one patron who was wagering in Canada ending up as
the only seven-leg survivor, the payout was $18,447.56 after the conversion of
American vs. Canadian funds. … The Pick-5 saw $48,126 in play and even though
three favorites scored during the sequence, a handsome $4,429.35 was the
return. … A total of $87,607 was poured into the Pick-4 pot, with the those holding
winning tickets walking away with $4,131.05. … All-source wagering totaled
$2,342,323. … Once again, the Late 20-Cent Jackpot Super High Five failed to
result in a single-ticket winner, upping the carryover to $132,042. … Yannick
Gingras drove four winners on the card after winning three last Saturday. All
seven horses were the betting favorite. ... Racing resumes Saturday at 6:35
p.m.
