By Mike Farrell, for
the Meadowlands
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
– David Miller flashed a wide smile as he guided Courtly Choice to the
winner’s circle after winning the $701,830 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace.
The monkey was off the
Hall of Famer’s back. After 19 failed efforts, Miller finally owned a victory
in the Meadowlands Racetrack’s signature event for 3-year-olds.
Courtly Choice rallied
to win the Pace by 1¼ lengths on Saturday night.
“That was sweet,”
Miller said. “Really sweet.”
The Pace was an obvious
omission on Miller’s glittering resume. “The Buckeye” is second on the sport’s
all-time money list with $222 million in the bank. His best previous Pace
finish was a second with Always B Miki in 2014.
The sweetness of the
moment spread in many directions, including trainer Blake MacIntosh, who also
savored the victory in his Pace debut.
“I believed in this
horse,” said McIntosh, the former assistant to Casie Coleman. “He just had some
back luck earlier in the year.”
And it was a winning
gamble for the ownership group that ponied up $61,690 to enter last week’s
eliminations. The faith of Hutt Racing Stable, Mac And Heim Stables, Daniel
Plouffe and Touch Stone Farms was rewarded with the $350,915 first-prize check.
Most importantly, it
was moment of redemption for Courtly Choice, who failed to make the finals in
the North America Cup and the Hempt.
The colt served notice
his moment was at hand with a sharp first-up victory in last week’s Pace
elimination. And then he finally put it all together for the richest victory of
his career.
The race seemed primed
for a 57-1 upset when a dead-game Dorsoduro Hanover, handled by Matt Kakaley,
battled his way to the front at the top of the lane.
But Courtly Choice was
tracking his every move and angled wide under Miller’s urging to score the
victory.
“The trip worked out
good,” Miller said. “The couple of horses I thought would leave from the
outside left. I was able to get Matt in front of me and nobody else moved. On
the last turn, I was real happy with my spot.”
The time was 1:47 1/5
on the warm evening.
Courtly Choice paid
$4.40, $3.20 and $2.80 as the 6-5 favorite. Dorsoduro Hanover returned $28.20
and $8.80.
Stay Hungry paid $3.20
to show as the best finisher among trainer Tony Alagna’s trio in the race.
Jimmy Freight, the
other supplement, was fourth followed by Thinkbig Dreambig, Nutcracker Sweet, This
Is The Plan, Babes Dig Me, Hayden Hanover and American History.
KEEPING PACE: All-source wagering on
the 14-race program totaled $4,083,390, an increase over Pace Night 2017 of
$259,761. … Yannick Gingras drove four winners on the card. … Favorites scored
eight times during the course of the night, including seven straight from race
two through race eight. … One simulcast player wagering in Chicago was the only
bettor to survive all 10 legs of the 20-Cent Survivor Pick-10 bet and walked
away with $21,473. … Racing resumes Friday at the Meadowlands with a special
post time of 8 p.m.
