By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It was not
the smoothest of trips, but it didn’t matter one bit to Inverse Hanover, who
toyed with a half-dozen overmatched opponents in the Friday night feature at
the Meadowlands, a $17,500 conditioned pace for fillies and mares.
The 4-year-old daughter of
Somebeachsomewhere clearly benefited from her tightener over the track one week
ago – a superb speed try where she was gunned down at the wire – and set sail
for the lead, but with three leavers to her inside, Brett Miller had to ease
off the gas just a bit before pushing down on the throttle again while parked
to surge to the top at the three-eighths.
After hitting the half in :54.2, the
Ed Hart trainee just kept on rolling, reaching three-quarters in 1:22.1 as
longshot Best Of Jenna was towing 2-1 second choice Penpal into contention.
But Inverse Hanover still had more.
The 4-5 public choice sprinted her
final quarter in :27.1 – as Penpal came up empty racing three wide into the
stretch, finishing sixth – and went on to a 1¼-length score in 1:49.2, lowering
her previous lifetime best by two-and-two-fifth seconds. Clear Idea was second
with Keystone Riptide third.
Inverse Hanover, who paid $3.60 to
win, has now won six of eight starts this year for owners Thomas Pollack and
Jeffrey Cullipher. Lifetime, she’s now 11-for-28 with earnings of just over
$196,000.
A LITTLE MORE: Wagering on the track’s signature
Pick-4 bet remained strong. For a third straight program, the pool exceeded
$100,000 when $113,837 was poured into the pot. … The Early 20-Cent Jackpot
Super High-Five – which had a 14-1 shot and an 18-1 chance finish 1-2 –
returned $9,833.00. The jackpot paid out two tickets due to a dead heat for
third… The Late 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five failed to result in a
single-ticket winner, bloating the carryover to $211,753. … All-source wagering
on the nine-race program totaled $2,107,047. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15
p.m. Defending Horse of the Year Hannelore Hanover makes her seasonal debut leaving
from post 12 in the feature, the $182,500 Cutler Memorial for trotters. ...
Gates open at the Big M at 9:30 a.m. for Kentucky Derby Day. Post time at
Churchill Downs is 10:30 a.m. The Derby is set to go at 6:50 p.m.
