By Dave Little, Meadowlands
Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It
was a case of too close to call in the Kindergarten Classic for filly pacers on
a card that featured four Kindergarten finals for 2-year-olds at the
Meadowlands Saturday night.
Odds On St Lucie and
Michelon’s Filly finished in a dead heat in the $148,700 event in a mile that
went in 1:52. Alkippe was a head back in third.
Brett Miller sent 6-1 shot
Odds On St Lucie to the top in search of her third straight series win. She
would never relinquish the top. Even-money favorite Michelon’s Filly started to
inch her way toward the leader after popping out of the four hole at the half.
Three-quarters was reached in 1:24.2 as Michelon’s Filly and Marcus Miller
continued to march closer while racing uncovered.
Through the stretch,
Michelon’s Filly bravely continued on, and at the wire, the photo finish
cameras could not separate the pair.
Odds On St Lucie, a daughter
of Sweet Lou-Shes Some Treasure, paid $5.20 to win for trainer Tony Alagna and
owner Odds On Racing. She’s now five-for-10 lifetime and has earnings of over
$100,000.
The Erv Miller-trained
Michelon’s Filly returned $2.60 for owners Ronald Michelon and Michael Anderson
and now has six wins in 13 starts and also a bankroll that just breaks the
six-figure barrier.
“I thought I was out there
way too long,” said Marcus Miller of Michelon’s Filly. “She paid me back for
taking care of her in her last few starts. She was as game as possible. They
were both digging right to the wire.”
Escapetothebeach went a
perfect trip on the way to taking the $173,800 colts and geldings pace in
1:51.3. It was three-quarters of a length back to Mac’s Power. Waterway was
third while 8-5 favorite Southwind Ozzi finished last in the field of 10.
Waterway and Brett Miller fired
right to the top and cut out all of the fractions as Andy McCarthy sat right
behind with Escapetothebeach. In deep stretch, Waterway bore out while
weakening on the lead, allowing Escapetothebeach a pathway to victory.
“He raced really good
tonight,” said McCarthy. “I got him to hustle out of there pretty good and I
got the trip I wanted. He had a lot of pace. I was quite confident if I got
out, I was the winner. I kept edging to the outside (in deep stretch) hoping
I’d get room, but it wasn’t coming, so I looked and it looked like it was
starting to open up to the inside, so I switched him back there and he went
right through.”
A son of
Somebeachsomewhere-Shelliscape, Escapetothebeach returned $16.00 to his backers
for trainer Alagna and owners Alagna & Inthegym, J. Sbrocco, R. Leblanc and
W. Donovan, and now has three wins in 12 lifetime starts and earnings of
$124,728.
A LITTLE MORE: One lucky player became the second in as many nights
to walk away with a $10,000 score in the 20-Cent Survivor Pick-10. Friday
night, the winner had to go 10-for-10 but on Saturday, all it took was five out
of 10 to hit big. … Yannick Gingras drove three winners on the card while Corey
Callahan, Brett Miller and David Miller had two apiece. … All-source wagering
on the 11-race program reached a meet-best $2,539,969. … Racing resumes Friday
at 7:15 p.m.
