Doctor Butch Sets Lifetime Mark in Meadowlands Fee For All

The Free For All pacers have taken turns beating each other for the majority of the meet thus far at The Meadowlands.  That trend continued on Saturday night in the form of Doctor Butch.


Sent off as the 4-1 third choice, Doctor Butch settled mid-pack and off the pace that was established early on by last weeks winner, Dapper Dude.  After tripping the opening quarter in 26-seconds, John Campbell elected to yield the lead with Dapper Dude to the oncoming Warrawee Needy, who moved to the front, hitting the half-mile in 54-seconds. At this point, the outer-flow began to develop, led by the gritty Wake Up Peter who committed first over.  Warrawee Needy went past three-quarters in 1:21.3, beginning to feel the pressure of the 9/5 favorite, Wake Up Peter who put a head in front in the stretch, but Doctor Butch was hot on his heels track his cover from second over and he was able to wear down the favorite while holding off the late charge of Beach Memories, who had been tracking Doctor Butch throughout to complete the mile in 1:49, which established a new lifetime mark for the son of Art Major.  The win marked the second on the card for Linda Toscano and the third for Tim Tetrick at that point, but he wasnt done yet.  Doctor Butch is owned by Kenneth Jacobs.


The eighth race $20,000 B-1 Pace was captured by a revitalized Odds On Equuleus.  Aggressively moving to the lead after a 28.3 tepid opening quarter, Odds On Equuleus asserted himself on the lead and would carry the field through middle fractions of 56.3 and 1:24 before turning for home in front.  With Long Live Rock on his back, Tim Tetrick asked the classy five year old for speed and Odds On Equuleus responded and maintained his one length advantage through the stretch to score in 1:51.1.  Odds On Equuleus is trained by Tony Alagna, giving him a training double and is owned by Odds On Racing.  The win marked the fourth on the card for Tim Tetrick.


The sixth race, a $20,000 B-2/B-1 Handicap Pace saw Al's Hammered rally from far off the pace to score a bounce-back win in 1:51, splashing home in a powerful 26.4 seconds.  Al's Hammered was coming off a season that saw him win 15 of 29 starts and he makes his first start of 2015 a winning one.  The six year old Peter Tritton trainee was guided to victory by Ron Pierce for Harry von Knoblauch.


There were no winning tickets in the fifth race Jackpot Super Hi-5.  The carryover into the Thursday program stands at $10,645.77.  The thirtheenth race jackpot went unclaimed and the carryover for race 13 on Thursday is $28,076.98.  Post time for Thursday night is 7:15 P.M. and features the first round of The Super Bowl trotting series.
     

Gallo Blue Chip Scholarship Winners Unveiled

        The Meadowlands would like to congratulate the two winners of The Gallo Blue Chip Scholarship, John McDermott  and Guadalupe Diaz.

        Mr. McDermott is the son of trainer John McDermott and he was the recipient of the $15,000 Gallo Blue Chip Scholarship, presented and funded by the owner of Gallo Blue Chip, Martin Scharf and administered by the Harness Horse Youth Foundation.  McDermott is a freshman in Business Administration at the University of Florida.  He has aspirations of pursuing a masters degree and spoke about his opportunities to sit behind the extremely fast Hurrikane Kingcole, whom his father trains.  In an in house interview, the younger McDermott joked saying, " I have seen him (Hurrikane Kingcole) give Corey Callahan trouble in the bike, so I don't think my dad was going to let me sit behind him going full-speed."  He will head back to Gainsville, Florida for the spring semester.

    Ms. Diaz, a resident of Middletown, New York is a junior at Stony Brook University, studying Chemical and Molecular Engineering.  She will receive a $5,000 stipend.  Diaz noted that "she still has her senior thesis to complete, but once she is done with that, things will get a little easier at school."
    
The Gallo Blue Chip Sponsorship is sponsored by Martin Scharf to honor his magnificent standardbred, Gallo Blue Chip, who retired as the richest pacer in harness racing history.
     

Melady's Monet Back on Top at The Meadowlands

East Rutherford, NJ - Melady's Monet saw his three race win streak snapped when he ran into Appomattox last time in the Free For All Handicap at The Meadowlands.  Tonight, he turned the tables on that foe and seven others to score a decisive victory in the sixth race $30,000 Featured Trot.

Sent off as the even-money favorite, Melady's Monet was aggressively moved to the lead past an opening quarter of 28.1, before relinquishing the lead to Appomattox who reached the half-mile in 26.2 and three quarters in 1:25.  In the stretch Appomattox was spent and drifted off the pylons allowing Melady's Monet to rally up the pylons to score impressively in 1:52.4.  The win was one of four on the card for driver Tim Tetrick and marked the fourth win in five starts for Melady's Monet.  The winning trainer was Kevin McDermott for owners Melady Enterprises L.L.C.

In other action, a dozen pacing mares took to the racetrack in the fifth race $22,000 B-2/B-1 Handicap.  Montenegro was aggressively driven and was just a part of mass of early speed leaving from the outside of the gate.  She reached the opening quarter in 26.4 before facing a challenge from Momma Rock.  Montenegro stretched out that foe, as the two dueled past the half-mile in 56.1 before Momma Rock would clear and lead the field to three quarters in 1:23.4. Turning for home in the 1 1/8th miles event, Momma Rock was facing challenges from everywhere, but despite the taxing trip, the John Campbell driven mare just kept on plugging away and completed the 1 1/8th miles in 2:06 for trainer Gerard Malanga and owners Pai Gow Racing Stable L.L.C.

The Meadowlands began its 2015 racing season with a $3 Million night as total handle for the 13-race program was $3,062,670, a five-percent increase from the $2,908,156 wagered on this same night in 2014.  Live handle spiked over 70-percent compared to a snowy night in 2014.

The fifth race Jackpot Super Hi-5 went unclaimed and will feature a carryover of $3,748.57 into the fifth race on the Saturday program.  The thirteenth race Jackpot also was not hit and it will feature a robust carryover of $24,442 in to the thirteenth race on Saturday.  Post time for the Saturday card is 7:15 P.M.