By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Creature Of
Habit got into the win column for the first time in her career a week ago, and
Friday night at the Meadowlands, the daughter of Donato Hanover-Habit’s Best
came right back and won again, taking one of five divisions of the Kindergarten
Classic for 2-year-olds.
The Nifty Norman trainee scored in
the dash for filly trotters by brushing to command down the backstretch before
reporting home a safe half-length in front of She Rocks Kemp in 1:55.3 for
driver Victor Kirby. As the 8-5 favorite, the winner of two of 11 lifetime
starts returned $5.40 to her backers.
In other Kindergarten action, Hen
Party ($15.60) went wire-to-wire to defeat 1-5 public choice Annabelle Hanover
by 1¼ lengths in a filly pace for driver Pat Berry and trainer Ron Burke in
1:52.4 while Ideal Perception ($7.60) held off Force N Fury by a hard-fought
nose in 1:51.3 in a pace for colts and geldings with Joe Bongiorno in the bike
for trainer Tony Alagna.
Hall Of AM S ($5.00 as the favorite)
took another filly trot, completing the mile in 1:55.2 to finish 1¾ lengths in
front of Scorched Romance for driver Mattias Melander, who is the brother of
winning trainer Marcus.
In a non-betting race before the
start of the regular card, Sky Castles scored in a division for trotting colts
and geldings for driver Mitch Cushing and trainer Andrew Harris in 1:55.1.
TROLLEY ON TIME: The Erv Miller-trained Trolley hit
the Meadowlands' winner’s circle for the first time since May 18, scoring by 1¾
lengths over Max as the 3-5 favorite in 1:54.4 in a $25,000 conditioned trot
for driver Marcus Miller.
A LITTLE MORE: A $20,922 carryover from last
Saturday led to a total pool of just over $150,000 in the 50-cent Pick-5. Those
who cashed had to be sharp, as the fourth leg of the wager was won by 39-1
chance Princess Holly N. The odds of the other four winners were 4-5, 8-5, 2-1
and 9-2. The payoff was $3,054.15. … 25-year-old Kasper Foget was a winner in
his Big M driving debut, guiding For A Dreamer to victory lane in the 11th
race at odds of 5-1. The native Of Denmark was a champion European driver in
the under-25 division. … All-source wagering on the 13-race card totaled
$2,294,868. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
