By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Heading into
the Friday night featured $25,000 high-end conditioned trot at The Meadowlands,
Deltasun A had won two of his last four starts, and while he was facing better
foes than he had in recent outings, he was dismissed at odds of 16-1, and that
created a big payday for his fans.
Driven by George Napolitano Jr. and
trained by Andrew Harris, Deltasun A was racing in sixth as the field of eight
straightened away down the backstretch. Napolitano moved the 7-year-old gelded
son of Tenotrump-Deltasu to the outside and made his way toward leader Warrior
One, who had cut out front-end fractions of :27.2 and :55.3, and continued to
race on the point past three-quarters in 1:24.4.
Just before the three-quarter mark,
8-5 favorite JL Cruze popped out of the pocket to take his shot at the leader,
which provided a live tow for Deltasun A around the far turn. Deltasun A tipped
off his cover at the eighth pole, and with some energetic handling from
Napolitano, gunned down JL Cruze at the wire by a neck in 1:53.1, just a fifth
of a second slower than his lifetime best. Warrior One held third.
Owned by Douglas Overhiser, A Harris
Racing and Michael Goldberg Racing, Deltasun A returned $34.60 to his
appreciative backers. He now has 22 victories from just 58 lifetime starts and
earnings of $209,134.
A LITTLE MORE: Three drivers stood above the rest on
the Friday night card. Andy Miller guided three to the winner’s circle while
Dave Miller had a driving double. Also registering a double was Scott Zeron,
whose winners were sent to the gate at odds of 80-1 and 12-1. Both of Zeron’s
victories played a major role in giant 50-cent Pick-4 payoffs. The wager that ended
in race nine returned $5,960.65, and in the 13th, the payoff was
$5,486.55. … The 20-cent Pick-6 went unhit as both of Zeron’s bombs scored
during the sequence, setting up a guaranteed pool of $15,000 for Saturday
night. Free past performances for the Pick-6, as well as the 20-cent Pick-5,
are available at playmeadowlands.com.
… All-source wagering totaled $2,488,170. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15
p.m.
