By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Atlanta and
Fiftydallarbill were the impressive winners of the fourth and final leg of the
Graduate Series for 4-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Friday night. The
finals for both pacers and trotters take place on July 6 at the Big M.
Atlanta, the 2018 Hambletonian winner
who trotted the fastest mile in Canadian harness racing history a week ago with
a 1:50.2 clocking in the Armbro Flight, opted to come from off the pace in her
Graduate division.
The daughter of Chapter Seven-Hemi
Blue Chip picked up live cover from Muscle M Up down the backstretch after
racing eighth and last to the opening quarter, tipped with an eighth of a mile
to go, and stormed past the field to score by 1¼ lengths over a fast-closing
Plunge Blue Chip. Crystal Fashion was third.
“I kind of wanted to race her off a
helmet tonight,” said winning driver Yannick Gingras. “I wanted to see what she
would do. I was confident. There was never an anxious moment.”
Atlanta, who is trained by Ron Burke,
trotted the mile in 1:50.4 and returned $2.40 to her backers as the 1-5 public
choice while staying perfect in five 2019 starts.
In the other Graduate division,
Fiftydallarbill worked out a perfect pocket trip behind even-money favorite Six
Pack and charged by his rival nearing the wire to record a neck victory.
Phaetosive was third.
Driver Corey Callahan likely won the
race during the initial quarter, extending Six Pack through an opening split of
:27.4. “I was trying to make him work a little bit into that first turn,” said
Callahan.
In mid-stretch, Callahan tipped the
son of Swan For All-CR Dixie Chick out of the pocket with an eighth to go and
wore down Six Pack to record his 18th lifetime win in 42 starts.
“I thought we were going to get by,”
said Callahan, who was fortunate to pick up this drive. “I really lucked out.
He’s gone through a couple of drivers but I really didn’t have a horse for this
class, so it worked out well for me.”
Fiftydallarbill paid $8.00 as the
second choice in the wagering for trainer Katricia Adams. His final clocking of
1:50.2 equaled Greenshoe (May 31) and Atlanta (last Saturday) for the fastest
trotting mile of the year in the spot.
A LITTLE MORE: Caviart Ally was no doubt glad to not
have to face Shartin N (whom she went up against in each of her last three
starts) and took it out on her foes in the third leg of the Rainbow Blue
Series, stopping the clock in a lifetime-best equaling 1:48.3 while 1¾ lengths
in front of Apple Bottom Jeans. The Brett Pelling trainee, who was driven by
Andy McCarthy, returned $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite. … Speaking of favorites, eight
visited victory lane during the course of the 13-race card. … One sharp player
wagering into the Twin Spires hub had the only ticket to survive six legs of
the 20-Cent Survivor Pick-10 and walked away with $8,960. … The fifth race
20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five did not result in a single-ticket winner,
bloating the carryover to $115,221. … All-source wagering totaled $2,337,789. …
Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
