By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The Jeff
Cullipher barn has been on fire of late at The Meadowlands, and the track’s
leading trainer kept on rolling Friday night, taking both Fall Harvest Series
Finals on the card.
Skyway Kon Man may not have gone the
best of trips, but he was up to the task, taking the final for trotters who
were non-winners of $4,500 in their last five starts. Last week, the 4-year-old
gelded son of Conway Hall-Keystone Sadie exploded off cover to win going away
in 1:55.3 as the even-money choice, which led players to send him off as the
3-5 favorite.
After leaving the gate from post six
in the 10-horse field, driver Simon Allard settled Skyway Kon Man into the
four-hole. Allard vacated the rail just after the half, but was unable to flush
cover, leaving him first-over for the final seven-sixteenths.
‘Kon Man’ kept chipping away at pesky
leader Levitation’s edge, and with about a sixteenth-of-a-mile to go, grabbed
the lead before holding off the fast-closing Godspell Hall by a head in 1:54.1.
Levitation finished third.
Skyway Kon Man returned $3.40 to win,
and now has seven victories from 36 lifetime starts and earnings of just over
$130,000.
But Cullipher, who won three races on
Oct. 10 before winning two more on both Oct. 16 and 17, would record his fourth
consecutive training double before the night was out.
Chiplosive, a 4-year-old gelded son
of Explosive Matter-Brooke Blue Chip, destroyed eight overmatched foes in the
Fall Harvest Final for trotters who were non-winners of $2,500 by 3 lengths in
1:52.4, a time that lowered his previous lifetime best by a full second.
Driver George Napolitano Jr. guided
Chiplosive to his second straight Big M score with some aggressive handling,
making the lead from post nine by traveling parked past the quarter before
securing the top at the half in :56.2.
From there it was easy gravy as
Chiplosive opened up on the field by 5 lengths at the head of the stretch
before cruising to a 3-length score over Piercewave Hanover. Broadway Bruiser
was third.
As the 2-5 favorite, Chiplosive paid
$2.80 to win, and now has eight career wins from 35 attempts, good for a
bankroll of just over $118,000.
A LITTLE MORE: After a second straight 20-cent
Pick-6 went unhit, a carryover of over $13,000 led Big M management to
guarantee a $25,000 pot for Saturday night. Free past performances are
available at playmeadowlands.com. …
When the Mark Silva-trained and driven Dramatic Point scored in the fifth race
(helping to insure the big Pick-6 pool for Saturday) at odds of 46-1, huge
10-cent Pentafecta ($12,626) and $2 Trifecta ($19,303) payoffs were the result.
The top five numbers in the official order of finish were 7-9-8-10-6. …
Napolitano and Corey Callahan topped the driver colony with three wins apiece.
… Seven favorites scored on the 13-race program, making it 23 chalks out of the
last 39 Big M races (59 percent). … All-source handle totaled $1,896,248. …
Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
