By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Wagering at the
Meadowlands has been on the increase in recent weeks, with last Saturday’s
$2.913 million the biggest number during the recently-concluded 2019 Fall
Meeting.
On Friday night at the Big M, on the
second day of the 2020 Winter Meeting, betting surpassed the magic $3-million
mark, with all-source wagering that totaled $3,069,967.
Play was consistent throughout the
14-race card, with two races, the first and eighth, both seeing betting in
excess of $290,000. The first was helped by a healthy 50-cent Pick-5 pool of
$58,789, while the eighth saw vigorous play in the 50-cent Pick-4 of $109,615.
PAPPY GO GO WINS AGAIN: Maybe the classy veteran Pappy Go Go
isn’t all the way back to his best just yet. But if he isn’t, he sure is close.
The 6-year-old gelded son of Tad The
Stud-Paging Willy won his second straight after failing in his previous eight
starts, scoring in the Friday night feature, a $25,000 high-range conditioned
trot.
Pappy Go Go was in tough, facing the
likes of 9-5 favorite JL Cruze, who was off consecutive third-place finishes to
the top-notch Preferred-caliber Southwind Chrome, and 2-1 second choice Sutton,
the half-millionaire who was getting some class relief in his third start back
from a layoff.
The race played out in unspectacular
fashion as JL Cruze, the first trotter ever to break the 1:50 barrier (in 2015)
on the trot at the Meadowlands, sailed along on the point past the quarter in
:27.2 and half in :55.2 with Sutton in the pocket and Pappy Go Go the three
hole.
Driver Corey Callahan moved Pappy Go
Go to the outside with three-eighths of a mile to go and chipped away at JL
Cruze’s advantage as they hit three-quarters in 1:24.1.
Through the stretch, JL Cruze was
game, but could not deal with Pappy Go Go, as he edged clear in deep stretch to
win by three-quarters-of-a-length over a fast-closing Kenziesky Hanover in
1:52.3 over a track labeled ‘good’ with a -1 variant. JL Cruze held third.
Sutton weakened to fifth.
“He’s at his best off the layoff,”
said winning trainer Andrew Harris of Pappy Go Go, who was making his third
start back after three months on the shelf. “He’s fresh. He has the same speed
in the winter as he did in the summer, so we tried to time his break to
hopefully allow us to benefit from that. Right now, the way he’s looking,
there’s nothing in training that scares me. He’s no layover by any means, but
if he gets his trip, he’ll pounce on them.”
As the third choice in the wagering,
Pappy Go Go returned $8.60 to his backers, and has now won 31 of 82 lifetime
starts, good for earnings of $230,797 for owners Michael Goldberg Racing.
A LITTLE MORE: The 20-cent Survivor Pick-10
continues to pay big numbers, and Friday was no exception. One Ontario-hub
player that lasted eight legs in the bet walked away with $13,034. ... Harris
trained two other winners on the program, giving him his second consecutive
three-score Friday. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
