Pacer Art History has been on a tear of late, reeling off three straight wins over increasingly difficult competition.
His most recent triumph came on Saturday (March 19) evening's featured $20,000 top-level pace at The Meadowlands, giving driver Scott Zeron one of his four wins on the 12-race program.
Art History ($3.60) controlled most of the terms in the featured sixth event and held sway from a hard-closing K Lees Shakenbake, employing a :26.1 last quarter to prevail over top-level company in 1:51.2 over fast going. Scott Zeron used the five-year-old Western Ideal gelding to seize the lead after a :27.4 first quarter, working clear of Sweet Rock (Corey Callahan) upon reaching the backstretch.
Following a well-rated :57.2 middle half, Art History accelerated clear of his eight foes in mid-stretch--but remained under pursuit from the first-over Ashleys Husband (Vinny Ginsburg) and K Lees Shakenbake (Brett Miller), who vaulted off cover to chase via a :25.3 closing split. Art History had just enough to prevail, a neck better than K Lees Shakenbake in the end. Ashleys Husband stayed on for third, while Sweet Rock tired a bit amid his chase, finishing fourth.
Steve Elliott trains 13-time winner Art History for Kenneth Klein and the Old Block Stables.
Total handle for the 12-race program was $2,926,995, marking an increase of $324,605 over the corresponding Saturday night program in 2015.
For Zeron, the win with Art History began a natural hat trick, and was one of his four on the night. The 26-year-old driver also teamed up with Mel Mara ($7.40, 1:49.1) in race 7, McArdles Lightning ($3.40, 1:50.4) in race 8, and Hope for Badlands ($3.80, 1:52.4) in race 11.
It was the second straight four-win night at The Meadowlands for Zeron, who teamed up with the yet-undefeated Ava N Ella ($2.10) in Friday's second race for a 1:53.2 going-away win, the fourth in the Tony O'Sullivan trainee's career. The Montréal native continued with a 1:54 triumph aboard Jonas Czernyson trainee Lauderdale ($6.00) in the sixth event before wins with Not Before Eight ($4.80) and Exquisite Glide ($7.60) in the eighth and tenth races, respectively.
Live harness racing returns to the Meadowlands on Friday, March 25, with first post at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Over a quarter million dollars will await punters in the form of carryovers and guaranteed pools, as carryovers of $9210 and $148,441 await 20¢ Jackpot High 5 players in the fifth and final races respectively, and the evening's Pick 4 and Pick 5 wagers offer $105,000 in combined guaranteed pools.
(with files from The Meadowlands)