By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – After 2019 saw
him crack the Top 10 in the standings at the top venue in the sport, driver
Tyler Buter no doubt had a resolution to win even more races at the Meadowlands
during 2020.
He’s off to a good start.
Buter, who had a career-best $5.6
million in earnings a year ago, scored three times on the Thursday program to
get his Winter Meeting at the mile oval off to a good start.
The 34-year-old Michigan native
snagged his first winner of the night with the Bob Lounsbury-trained Summer
Rock in a filly and mare pace for TrackMaster 74.5 or less as the 7-5 favorite
in the fourth race in 1:53.4.
Buter, who won 47 times at the Big M
during 2019, made a huge move on the far turn to open up a big lead in the
fifth race with Walks Of Life before holding off the late-charging Sir Richie N
by a diminishing neck in 1:53.1 for trainer Besim Odza in a $7,500 claiming
pace as the 5-2 second choice.
The third and final score for Buter
came in the ninth race behind Spilling The Beans, who stopped the clock in 1:54
as the 6-5 public choice for trainer William Adamczyk in another filly and mare
pace for TrackMaster 74.5 or less.
A LITTLE MORE: There were only two winning favorites
on the card and Buter drove them both. … Marcus Miller and Austin Siegelman
each got 2020 off to a great start with two winners apiece. … The 50-cent
Pick-4 came back $18,065 after a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 14-1
(Siegelman), 18-1 (Greg Merton), 6-5 (Buter) and 10-1 (Siegelman). … The 10th-race
20-cent Jackpot Super High-Five failed to yield a single-ticket winner,
bloating the carryover for Friday’s 14th race to $87,287. …
All-source handle for the 10-race card was $1,665,191. … Racing resumes Friday
at 7:15 p.m.
