By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Andy McCarthy
was on fire at The Meadowlands Friday night, guiding four winners on the card,
including Machnhope to a second consecutive win in the weekly $30,000 pacing
feature for fillies and mares.
One week after scoring as the fifth
choice in the betting in the Winners Over/Preferred Handicap, the wagering
public sent Machnhope, a Noel Daley trainee, to the gate as the second choice
this time around, and once again she brought her “A” game.
Away quickly from post seven in the
seven-horse field, the 6-year-old daughter of Mach Three-Hope For Life was
intent on making the front in search of a second straight speed score, and hit
the quarter in a quick :26.1. McCarthy was able to rate the second fraction in
:28.4, which left enough in the tank for later on.
“There were some high-quality mares
in there,” said McCarthy, “and I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out. I
figured I might as well put her in play. We got a pretty good break down the
backside.”
The pace picked up some heading to three-quarters,
as JK First Lady started to roll while uncovered and was at the leader’s throat
at three-quarters (1:22.4).
At mid-stretch, JK First Lady was
right alongside Machnhope as the two went at it nose-to-nose, but in the final
50 yards, Machnhope paced clear to win by a length to break the 1:50 barrier
for the first time in her career, stopping the clock in 1:49.1. JK First Lady,
the 8-5 favorite making her seasonal debut for Nancy Takter, was a length back
in second, with Lyons Sentinel finishing third.
“I had to be careful with her on the
turn,” said McCarthy, “but once she straightened up, she paced home strong.
She’s been terrific lately. 1:49.1 is pretty special for her.”
The winner of the Blue Chip
Matchmaker, Machnhope has now won three straight and six of her last eight for
owners Deo Volente Farms & T. Pontone, A. Express Stables and Noel Daley.
Lifetime, she’s been victorious 32 times from 106 starts and earned $551,394.
She paid $8.40 to win after going off at 3-1.
McCarthy’s other winners on the card
were Staycation Hanover ($3.00 to win) in the fifth race, Deltasun A ($22.40)
in the 10th and Lovely Donna ($3.40) in the 11th.
THE STREAK LIVES: The Big M’s handle streak of wagering
at least $3 million increased to 11 as a total of $3,318,763 was put in play on
the 13 races.
The 50-cent Pick-4 continued to be a
hot ticket, as the Early P4 saw $122,687 in action and the Late P4 took in
$107,211. Fourteen of the last 16 Pick-4s have seen pools of over $100,000.
A LITTLE MORE: James MacDonald, who got his
first-ever win at The Big M last Friday with Majestic Virgin, won again with
the Carmen Auciello trainee in the ninth race as the 2-1 favorite. … Andrew
Harris trained a pair of winners on the card. Both were driven by McCarthy. …
Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
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