By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – It was about
two months ago when the Jeff Cullipher-trained Endeavor pulled off an 11-1
upset in the Nov. 10, $100,000 Potomac Invitational Pace at Maryland’s
Rosecroft Raceway, defeating some tough customers such as Dealt A Winner,
American History, Dorsoduro Hanover and Courtly Choice.
After that, he failed to hit the wire
first in his next four outings, but Saturday night at the Meadowlands, the
7-year-old gelded son of American Ideal-Jett Diamond found his way back to the
winner’s circle, taking the $25,000 featured high-range conditioned pace in
1:50.3 over a track rated ‘good’ with a -1 variant.
On a night when a majority of the
races saw winners on the lead or close to it, driver Jim Marohn Jr. moved
Endeavor out of the three-hole after the quarter and moved to the top before
the half, stopping the clock at that station in :55.1.
Endeavor continued to move well over
the soggy track, hitting three-quarters in 1:22.4 while clear of the
pocket-sitting Shoreview and first-over American Boy N. Through the stretch,
Endeavor drew clear of those foes, hitting the wire 1¾ lengths in front of a
fast-closing 6-5 favorite Franco Totem N. Keystone Phoenix closed ground late
for third.
As the 8-5 second choice, Endeavor
returned $5.40 to his backers and has now won 32 of 110 lifetime starts, good
for earnings of $673,937 for owners Pollack Racing and Jeff Cullipher.
“I was very confident in him coming
into tonight,” said Cullipher. “After the Potomac, right before the TVG, he
popped a quarter crack. It was somewhat minor but it put a damper on things
because I had him really good. It’s completely healed now.”
Is Endeavor good enough to take on
the older male pacing division’s best during 2020? “He may not go in every
single one of those races,” said Cullipher. “But we’ll take our chances in some
of them.”
REPLAYS ON TVG: To see the replays of the Thursday,
Friday and Saturday races, tune in to TVG at 10 a.m. Monday morning.
A LITTLE MORE: Fall Meeting leading driver Dexter
Dunn, recently named the United States Harness Writers Association’s Driver of
the Year, was up to his old tricks, visiting the winner’s circle five times on
the program. … Joe Bongiorno had a driving triple, Ron Burke a training double.
… Wagering was strong in the track’s two popular multi-leg puzzles. A total of
$63,798 was poured into the 50-cent Pick-5 pool while $94,701 was pushed
through the windows in the 50-cent Pick-4. … The Late 20-cent Jackpot Super
High-Five failed to result in a single-ticket winner, bloating the carryover to
$94,800. … All-source wagering on the 14-race card was $2,744,633. … Racing
resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.
