By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Considering
the talent level of the field he was facing, even driver Andy Miller must have
been surprised at how easily his Sutton won his second straight Friday night
feature at the Meadowlands, the $30,000 Preferred Handicap for trotters.
After all, Sutton was taking on
arch-rival Trolley, the only horse to defeat him (twice) this year. In
addition, there was $2.7-million lifetime earner Pinkman to contend with, as
well as Dover Downs shipper All Champy, who was looking for his third straight
win, not to mention Sutton’s stablemate, Top Flight Angel, who was second in
last year’s Breeders Crown.
But there was Sutton, leaving the
gate alertly before yielding the top to Pinkman at the quarter, and even though
the track was unforgiving to speed all night long, Miller put the 6-year-old
son of Donato Hanover-I Wanted Wings right back on the point at the
three-eighths.
After a sleepy :29.4 second quarter,
Sutton was in full control as Trolley was the first to pull off the rail – from
sixth – after the half.
His attempt to beat Sutton – as well
as everyone else’s – would prove futile.
Sutton raced on a clear lead around
the far turn as Trolley picked up cover from longshot Sortie, but no one ever
got close. Sutton trotted his final quarter in :26.3 and hit the wire in 1:53.
It was 2¼ lengths back to Pinkman. Sortie was third while Trolley finished
fourth.
The winner, trained by Julie Miller,
paid $4.20 to win as the even-money favorite and now has 13 wins from 40
lifetime starts and earnings of $557,288 for owners Andy Miller Stable and
Jason and Douglas Allen.
CAP4 REACHES NEW HEIGHTS: The fifth edition of the Can-Am
Pick-4, which requires a bettor to select two winners at the Meadowlands and
two more at Woodbine Mohawk Park, provided the wager’s biggest pool yet, as a
total of $65,333 was put in play.
After a sequence that saw winner’s
odds of even-money, 8-1, 8-5 and 2-1, the return for the bet with the 20-Cent
base was $87.17. The Meadowlands’ Dave Brower and Woodbine’s Jason Portuondo
gave out winning selections to their followers.
BIG HIT IN JSH5: In the 13th race 20-Cent
Jackpot Super High-Five, 10-1 shot Knightofvictory held off 5-2 favorite Prince
Of Minto after a stirring stretch duel and one player wagering into the Oregon
hub had the lone winning ticket with the combination of 6-8-1-10-3 and cashed
in for $68,059.
A LITTLE MORE: Five drivers won two races on the
program: Yannick Gingras, Dexter Dunn, Corey Callahan, Dave Miller and Andy
Miller. … Ron Burke had a training triple while Mark Harder scored twice. …
Tyler Buter found a late seam to win the ninth race with Parkin In Heaven,
giving him 2,999 driving wins for his career. … All-source handle totaled
$2,717,504. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
