Digital Pix unleashed a powerful uncovered bid that carried her to a 15-1 upset victory in Tuesday’s $22,500 Filly & Mare Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows
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Although Digital Pix had won two of her last three starts, she had performed most recently in a $30,000 optional claimer, causing bettors to look elsewhere for the winner. But when Mike Wilder tipped her off the pylons from fifth, she looked every bit the Preferred trotter, gunning down the leader, Glorys Comet runner-up and 1-2 favourite Action Broadway, and scoring in 1:57.3 over a “good” track. TV Mom rallied for second, a length back, while Pilgrims Stunner shot the Lightning Lane for third.
David Wade bred, trains and owns Digital Pix, a seven-year-old daughter of SJs Photo-Royal Yankee who equalled her lifetime mark.
Dave Palone drove five winners while Tony Hall drove four on the 15-race card. Hall's first win on the day with the Jeff Bolyard-trained Online Auction gave him 3,000 career victories.
“I’m pretty excited about this; I was really looking forward to it,” Hall said. “In my opinion, The Meadows has one of the best, one of the toughest driver colonies around right now. I’m thankful to still get as much work as I get.”
Hall, 32, grew up in Carlisle, Ohio near Lebanon Raceway, where he launched his career and won several driving titles. He moved from Lebanon to Northfield Park and relocated to The Meadows in 2006. In 2010, he ranked third among Meadows drivers, behind Dave Palone and Brett Miller, in wins, earnings and UDR.
Hall briefly leased a farm near The Meadows with the intention of opening a boarding facility but gave it up last year when it took too much attention away from his primary occupation.
“It was too much work, trying to juggle the farm with everything else,” he said. “I want to keep myself motivated, move forward and see what happens. This year, I want to focus more on traveling on our off days when I have opportunities to drive in stakes. I passed on a few of those last year.”
(With files from The Meadows)