Hawks Red Chief continued his winning ways Saturday night at the Meadowlands, taking the $17,500 featured conditioned pace in determined fashion for his seventh win of the year in only 10 starts.
The five-year-old gelded son of I Scoot Hanover was away well from post five and had the lead in a leisurely :28 at the quarter. Another rated fraction followed as the half was reached in :56.3 before the cadence quickened considerably.
Medoland Jate, a 17-1 longshot, came first-over and raced alongside the leader as three-quarters went in 1:23.3, but Hawks Red Chief shrugged off that challenger through the stretch before having to hold off another longshot, 30-1 chance Rockin Wizard, who rallied well along the rail, only to come up a neck short. Americanprimetime finished third with Medoland Jate fourth.
Dealt A Winner, the 2015 Cane Pace winner and 3-5 favourite, was far back most of the way and paced evenly in deep stretch after going a third-over trip to finish fifth.
Hawks Red Chief, who paced his back half in a sizzling :53.3, completed the mile in 1:50.1 and paid $7.40 as the 5-2 second choice for driver Joe Bongiorno, trainer Ron Burke and owners Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and M L Yanek.
The 5th race 20 cent Jackpot Super High Five once again did not have a single-ticket winner, upping the carryover for the next program to $30,444.15. The Meadowlands returns with live harness racing on Friday, July 8 with first race post time at 7:15 p.m.
(with files from The Meadowlands)