by Mike Farrell,
Meadowlands Media
East Rutherford, NJ
— What a week for Linda
Toscano.
On Sunday evening, the
trainer gave a gracious acceptance speech at her induction to the Harness Racing
Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y., and on Saturday night (July 13), she stood in the
winner’s circle after Best In Show pulled a 27-1 upset in the $682,650 Crawford
Farms Meadowlands Pace.
It was the perfect
bookend to a seven-day span she’ll never forget.
“This another one I
never dreamed of,” Toscano said after becoming the first female trainer to win
the Pace. “This is home for me. This is awesome.”
In a thrilling finish,
Best In Show slipped through an opening on the rail to defeat his more heralded
rivals. He got up by a head over Bettor’s Wish, the brave first-over challenger
who couldn’t have raced much better.
Right in the mix was
Workin Ona Mystery in third, with the pacesetting Captain Crunch, the North
America Cup winner and the 1-2 favorite in the Pace, a close-up fourth in the
blanket finish.
The time was 1:48 on the
warm evening for the track’s signature race.
Brian Sears, also a Hall
of Famer, gave Best In Show a perfect ground-saving drive. Best In Show left
alertly before readily yielding to let the favorites duke it out while settling
into fourth.
“I knew they were racing
pretty good,” Sears said. “It was all the horses to beat and they were going at
it. I was pretty content. I wanted to sneak him around there a little bit. I
got a little opening, and he fired for me.”
And he fired up the tote
board.
Best In Show paid
$56.20, $14.40 and $6.80. Bettor’s Wish returned $4.00 and $2.80. Workin Ona
Mystery paid $3.80 to show.
The time was 1:48 after
clipping through aggressive fractions of :26.2, :52.4 and a blazing 1:19.3 to
the three-quarter pole.
It was fourth win in 12
starts for Best In Show, who competed in a non-winners of two races condition
as recently as May.
“We knew he was a nice
colt last year and he got a little colt sore on us,” Toscano said. “We shut him
down, brought him back and he’s done everything right.”
Best In Show has been
rapidly making up for that lost time.
The son of Bettor’s
Delight out of Put On A Show earned $341,325 as a homebred for Richard P. Young
& Joanne Young. He turned in a pair of second-place finishes in his
previous two starts, an Ontario Sires Stakes and his Pace elimination behind
Bettor’s Wish.
Keeping Pace: All-source wagering on the 13-race program
totaled $4,044,303, the sixth time in the last seven years that Meadowlands
Pace Night betting surpassed the $4-million mark. … The driving stars were out
in force as 10 of the races on the card were won by Dave Miller (3), Tim
Tetrick (3), Yannick Gingras (2) and Sears (2). … There were a pair of 50-Cent
Pick-4s on the program and they both took big action. The Pick-4 that began in
Race 6 took in a 2019-best $146,229, while the Late Pick-4 (Races 10-13) saw a
total pool of $122,070. ... Racing resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.
