On a night that saw 10 trotting events on a 13-race program, two performances stood out at The Meadowlands on Friday (September 16).
In a $10,000 division of the Kindergarten Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings on the trot, Walner rebounded to dominate in his second career Big M start.
The Linda Toscano-trained colt brushed to command at the three-eighths before romping his way to a six and a half-length win in 1:53.4 with Tim Tetrick doing the driving.
A week ago in a similar spot, Walner went off stride as the 2-5 favourite, suffering the only loss of his brief four-race career, but the bettors forgave that outing, sending him to the gate as the 4-5 choice. The Kenneth Jacobs-owned son of Chapter Seven returned $3.60 to win.
In the overnight feature for non-winners of $15,000 in their last five starts, Sutton ($8.80), who finished third in the Hambletonian last month, sat a perfect pocket trip and vacated the rail at the eighth pole to grab the top before holding off the late-charging Cash Me Out to record a neck win in 1:51.4 for the husband and wife team of driver Andy and trainer Julie Miller.
Canepa Hanover, the 4-5 favourite after facing the likes of Obrigado and Resolve in his last two starts, moved to the lead at the three-eighths and led to the stretch before weakening to third.
FOUR PAIR: Joe Bongiorno, Andy Miller, Ake Svanstedt and Yannick Gingras all recorded driving doubles on the program. … Over the first three cards of the abbreviated four-program September meeting, Miller has driven nine winners. … Friday's other Kindergarten Classic winners were Sheer Assault (Miller), Limerence (Svanstedt), Hillarmbro (Trond Smedshammer) and Princess Aurora (Gingras). … Racing resumes at the Big M Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)