By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Faithful fans
of The Meadowlands product produced another huge night of action at mile oval,
as for a third consecutive Saturday betting topped the $3.6-million mark.
All-source wagering on the 15-race
card totaled $3,646,603.
Just like one week ago (Jan. 2), a
big first race guaranteed 20-cent Pick-5 pool set the tone for the night. The
wager carried not only a $100,000 pool promise but had a $25,000 seed as well,
which was provided by track management and the Standardbred Owners Association
of New Jersey. In the end, the total P5 pool represented $195,759 of the
$411,664 bet overall in the opener.
Play was steady all night long, as
three times single-race totals exceeded the $300,000 mark. The track’s Pick-4s
were predictably popular with players, as a total of $180,909 was pushed
through the windows on the two wagers.
Over the last three Saturdays,
betting has totaled $11,927,330, an average per card of $3,975,776.
NO REGULAR JOE: Grizzled veteran Western Joe used a
quick brush to grab the top before the half and flaunted his back class from
there, crushing his foes in the featured $19,000 high-end conditioned pace.
The 7-year-old gelding by Western
Ideal-Ante Fay, who is trained by Chris Choate, stopped the clock in 1:50 with
Dave Miller driving to win for the 30th time from 97 career starts.
His earnings now stand at $712,908.
As the 2-5 favorite, he returned
$2.80 to his backers. Paduka N was 3¼ lengths back to finish second. Rockin The
Aces was third.
THAT’S EIGHT, MATE: Driver Todd McCarthy capped a superb
weekend with four winners on the card. The 27-year-old recent Australian
transplant, who also won four times Friday night, was the key to the 20-cent
Pick-5 payoff of $25,057, winning three times during the sequence, including a
score at 29-1 with Effronte A in the fourth race.
THAT’S A HALF-DOZEN, COUSIN: Dave Miller matched McCarthy by
winning four times Saturday after recording a driving double Friday.
Fans of “The Buckeye” will have to do
without the Hall of Famers talents for a while, as Miller is now heading to
Florida for the winter. He plans to do some driving at Pompano Park.
A LITTLE MORE: There was something for everybody
during the races, as seven favorites clicked during the night while four
winners were sent to the gate at odds of 11-1 or more. Marcus Miller guided two
of those, scoring at 11-1 and 39-1. Three of those long shots scored in the 12th,
13th and 14th races, leading to a $1 Pick-3 that returned
$2,858.00. … Free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card
are available at playmeadowlands.com.
… Racing resumes Friday at 6 p.m.
