By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Wagering at The
Meadowlands continued to bustle Saturday night, as betting blasted past the
$4-million barrier for a third time in 2021, the same number of times that was
accomplished during all of 2020.
Action was huge from the get-go on
the 15-race card as a total of $367,134 was pushed through the windows on the
opener, $86,011 of which was bet on the 20-cent Pick-5. Action was at least
$330,000 on races six, seven and nine before the 10th race took in
the most play of the night, with $370,062.
The sixth race 50-cent Pick-4 saw
$105,648 pushed through the windows and resulted in the wager’s biggest payout
of the meeting. Twenty-to-one long shots won the opening and payoff legs of the
bet, resulting in a payoff of $17,959.
In sharp contrast, the 10th
race Pick-4, which saw a total pool of $94,171, saw two even-money shots, a 5-2
and a 3-1 combine for a payout of $78.55.
The all-source total wagered on the
card was $4,082,528, an average per race of $272,168. Betting has exceeded $7
million for the last three weekends at The Big M. That plateau was reached
three times during all of 2020.
THAT’S A HALF-DOZEN COUSIN: Driver Dexter Dunn continued his
brilliance in the bike at the current Big M meeting by winning six times on the
program.
The 31-year-old native of New
Zealand, the two-time defending United States Harness Writers Association
Driver of the Year, won a total of eight races over the weekend, upping his Big
M driver-colony leading win total to 39.
‘JOE’ BEATEN, ‘JL’ CRUISES: A pair of fan favorites sat atop the
marquee in the co-featured $22,500 winners-over $11,500 events, one on the pace
and the other on the trot.
Tulhurstsantanna A worked out an
ideal trip in pulling off a 21-1 upset in the pace. The driver of the
8-year-old gelded son of Santanna Blue Chip-Ballroom Belle had designs on
leaving the gate, but Andy McCarthy thought better of it.
“I put his nose on the gate and
thought about stepping out,” said McCarthy. “But I aborted that mission when I
saw everybody else had the same idea and managed to work out a sweet
second-over trip.”
Western Joe, the 4-5 favorite who was
seeking his second straight score in the weekly feature, brushed to the lead
while parked past the half in :54.2, but was pressured by long shot Points
North shortly thereafter, which set it up for a closer.
McCarthy tipped Tulhurstsantanna A
off the cover provided by Points North as they straightened up in the stretch
but still had one major player to worry about.
“I knew [3-1 second choice]
Springsteen was on my back,” said McCarthy. “He’s very fast, that horse, but my
horse, he keeps horses at bay. He knows what to do.”
In winning a third straight at The
Big M, Tulhurstsantanna A returned $44.20 to his backers after completing the
mile in a lifetime-best equaling 1:49.4 on a night with a feel-like temperature
of 19 degrees. Springsteen finished a half-length back in second, with Italian
Delight N third and Western Joe fourth in the eight-horse field.
Trained by Andrew Harris and owned by
Douglas Overhiser, Tulhurstsantanna A raised his lifetime stats to 24 wins from
144 starts, good for earnings of $191,454.
In the marquee trot, JL Cruze chalked
up his third win in his last four Meadowlands outings, scoring by a half-length
over Scirocco Rob in 1:52.4. Rich And Miserable was third.
“He’s a classy old horse,” said
winning driver Dunn of the 10-year-old gelding by Crazed-Topcat Hall. “And it’s
a pleasure to sit behind him every week.”
JL Cruze left alertly from post eight
in the eight-horse field and opted to race in the five-hole early on. “I got
him out of there and we took a seat,” said Dunn. “It’s not usually the way he
races, but I was pretty confident we would run them down.”
The even-money favorite followed the
live tow of 7-1 third choice Scirocco Rob down the backstretch, and once leader
Winnerup was done, it was down to those two. Under confident handling from
Dunn, JL Cruze reported home an easy winner after tipping off cover, scoring for
the 43rd time from 127 career starts for trainer Eric Ell and owners
W. Kenneth Wood, J. Dittmar Jr. and S.J. Iaquinta. His lifetime bank account
now stands at a gaudy $1,572,392.
A LITTLE MORE: Scott Zeron and Corey Callahan both
recorded driving doubles while the red-hot Jeff Cullipher trained a pair of
winners. … Shrewd 20-cent Pick-6 players made a big score, as with only one
long shot (22-1) winning during the sequence, those with winning tickets walked
away with $12,891. Of the other five winning horses, two were favored, while
the other three went off at 5-1, 5-2 and 3-1. … Racing resumes Friday at 6 p.m.
