Fade Out proved to be highly competitive in the first two legs of the TrackMaster Series for fillies and mares on the pace with a rating of 84 or less, but came up short on both occasions.
On Friday, May 11 at The Meadowlands, in the $31,507 series final, a perfect trip for the Jeff Cullipher trainee led to a jaunt down victory lane.
“Good trips make for happiness,” said winning driver Tim Tetrick. “She’s been knocking on the door and finally got it done tonight.”
After finishing a close-up third and second in her attempts in the preliminaries, all went well in the final, as Fade Out sat fifth to the half while the top two choices – 5-2 shots Pattycake Mooss and Annas Wish – were at each other’s throats through a half of :55.4 over a track rated ‘sloppy.’
Around the far turn, Tetrick had Fade Out, a five-year-old Sportswriter-Fade mare, in perfect second-over striking position following last week’s leg two upset winner Two Pistol Annie as Annas Wish hit three-quarters in 1:23.2. From there, Fade Out was tipped off her cover as they straightened up for the stretch drive and paced right by her foes to record a safe three-quarters of a length win in 1:51.1. Century Jamila, who blasted away from post 10 to lead at the quarter in :27.3, finished second, with leg one winner Dontkarenifido third.
“I think that’s her best game, sit back and see what happens,” said a mud-covered Tetrick in the post-race back paddock interview. “Luckily, turning for home, we were second-over and got the right trip. Last week, I thought she would win and hung a little [when second]. When she gets on a roll, she’s a pretty nice mare.”
Currently owned by Pollack Racing, Fade Out now has 20 wins from 69 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $434,168.
As the 4-1 third choice in the wagering, she returned $10 to her backers.
There will be a pair of carryovers for players to shoot for on the Saturday card. The key to the carryovers was Hurrymiki Hanover, who took the seventh race at odds of 48-1, topping a Trifecta that returned a whopping $12,236. There were no winning tickets sold in the 10-cent Hi-5 (Pentafecta), creating a carryover of $13,569 for Saturday’s seventh race.
The best players could do in the 20-cent Pick-6 was five winning selections, which was good for a payout of $24.82. The carryover for Saturday’s fourth race Pick 6 is $3,087.
Todd McCarthy followed up his four-winner night last Saturday with a three-bagger to lead the driver colony. He has nine wins over the last three race cards. Cullipher and Cory Stratton each had training doubles.
All-source handle totalled $3,113,950 USD on the 14-race card, marking the 30th time in 2024 that wagering surpassed $3 million USD from a total of 36 programs.
Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with early Hambletonian favourite Karl the featured attraction in New Jersey Sire Stakes action.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)