By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – It was a night
for the players who love The Meadowlands’ multi-leg wagers Friday night, as a
pair of big carryovers led to windfalls for shrewd bettors.
Right off the bat, the first race saw
the 20-cent Pick-5 attract $330,061 in “new money” on top of the $52,665
carryover. The pool total was $382,726, and those who had winning tickets where
the winner’s odds were 7-2, 3-2, 17-1, 12-1 and 2-1 cashed in for $3,974.94.
Twenty-cent Pick-6 winners also
cashed in for big green. After $61,325 was pumped into the pool on top of the
$13,524 carryover, a total of $74,489 was in the hat. Winner’s odds for that
sequence were 12-1, 2-1, 7-1, 6-5, 5-1 and 7-2, and those who held live tickets
walked away with $4,689.20.
With the boost provided by the big Pick-5
betting, the total pool on the first race was $483,599, which set the tone for
the rest of the evening, as total wagering exceeded the $3-million mark for the
eighth time this year with $3,065,942 pushed through the windows on the 13-race
card. That number represented a 34 percent increase over the corresponding
program from a year ago.
ON THE TRACK: Plumville Prince scooted up the rail
after three horses vacated the pylons on the far turn, then split rivals in
deep stretch to record a 1¾-length score in the lone Peter Haughton Memorial
elimination for 2-year-old colts and geldings on the trot.
Sent to the gate as the 5-1 third
choice in the wagering, Plumville Prince stopped the clock in 1:54.2 in winning
for the first time in three lifetime starts. Scott Zeron drove the product of
Father Patrick-Lady Athens for his father, trainer Rick.
Finishing second through seventh,
respectively, were Moonstone S, Venerate, Media Mogul, Caruso, Zenith Stride
and Incentive. They will join three horses who accepted byes – Locatelli, Type
A and Spy Booth – in the $324,000 Final on August 8.
Chalk players took it on the chin in
both eliminations of the Jim Doherty Memorial for 2-year-old filly trotters.
In the first elim, 2-5 choice Insta
Glam broke on the far turn, setting up a win from well off the pace from 12-1
chance Darlene Hanover (Chapter Seven-Danielle Hanover), who scored in 1:54.4
in registering her first lifetime score for trainer Brett Bittle and driver
Andy McCarthy.
Material Girl, Hot As Hill, Ineffable
and May Karp finished second through fifth, respectively, earning berths in the
August 8 final, which will go for $310,000.
Altar, also 2-5 in the betting, was
sailing along on the lead in mid-stretch before going off stride in the second
elim, allowing Mazzarati (Cantab Hall-Falls For You) a trip to the winner’s
circle. Driven by Tim Tetrick for Lucas Wallin, Mazzarati hit the wire in a
lifetime-best 1:56.
Avenir, Ixia Maculata S, Altar
(finished 3rd, disqualified and placed fourth) and Sel’s Choice were
second through fifth in the official order of finish to advance to the final.
In a pair of $40,000 divisions of the
Home Grown, Caviart Audrey (Somebeachsomewhere-Darlin’s Delight) used a wicked
late kick (:25.4 final quarter) to catch 3-5 favorite Grace Hill in taking her
lifetime debut in 1:51.4 at odds of 2-1 for Yannick Gingras and Nancy Takter in
the split for 2-year-old pacing fillies.
The division for 2-year-old colts and
geldings on the pace saw Summa Cum Laude (the 6-5 slight second choice) blast
directly down the road for Dexter Dunn and Ron Burke. The son of
Somebeachsomewhere-Western Graduate hit the wire in 1:51.4, a lifetime best.
Monterrey Jack, also 6-5, finished third.
BEFORE THE BETTING CARD: Shake That House, a son of American
Ideal-Shake That Junk, went wire to wire in 1:49.1, taking the New Jersey
Breeders Maturity Final for pacing 4-year-old horses and geldings for trainer
Tony Alagna and driver Joe Bongiorno. It was 1¼ lengths back to Hurrikane
Emperor in second.
A Beach Cowgirl
(Somebeachsomewhere-Limestone Cowgirl) sat a perfect pocket trip and got up as
they hit the wire to gun down JK American Beauty by a nose in a lifetime-best
1:49.4 for Annie Stoebe and Andy McCarthy in the New Jersey Breeders Maturity
Final for 4-year-old mares on the pace.
HAMBO PROPS: Fans who want to stop into the
FanDuel Sportsbook at the Big M will have a chance to make some prop bets on
Saturday night’s Hambletonian eliminations.
You can get +220 on Zeron to finish
on the board in both elims, or maybe you have a strong opinion on who will
finish in front of whom in the matchup pitting Ramona Hill (-125) and Beads
(+110). There will be a handful of bets available, including the winning
margins of both elims.
A LITTLE MORE: Dunn, Zeron, Bongiorno and McCarthy
all recorded driving doubles on the program. … Betting in the Late 50-cent
Pick-4 surpassed the $100,000 mark for a fourth straight time, as $106,675 was
put in play. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m., featuring two eliminations
for the $1,000,000 Hambletonian.
