Awesomeness lived up to his name, controlling the action from start to finish to win the featured $20,000 Preferred Handicap Pace at the Meadowlands on Saturday, March 3.

The Brett Pelling trainee was back at the highest level the Big M offers and the five-year-old gelded son of Mach Three emerged on the front after a five-horse scrum into the first turn. He cut fractions of :26.4, :54 and 1:22.1 before sprinting home in :28 to record a three-quarter-length win for driver Jim Marohn Jr. and owner Martin Scharf.

Awesomeness hit the wire in 1:50.1. Dr J Hanover was second with JK Will Power finishing third. Western Joe, the 5-2 second choice who was seeking his third-straight score with this kind, opted to race from the rear and closed to get fourth.

The winner paid $4.20 as the even-money favourite and now has 15 wins in 37 lifetime tries, with earnings of just over $235,000.

Meadowlands fans wagered with both hands throughout Saturday night’s 13-race program and, despite only two horses paying $10 or more and six races that saw favourites emerge victorious, the betting swelled to a new 2018 high.

For the first time this year, wagering surpassed the $3-million mark. The all-source total handle of $3,454,633 easily outdistanced the industry-handle leader's previous 2018 best, which was $2,790,201 on Jan. 27. The corresponding race card a year ago saw $2,581,495 bet on 12 races.

The on-track, on-product play totaled $296,916.

The Pick-5 carryover of $30,202 served as a catalyst for not only that wager, but for the entire night, as $230,199 in new money was poured into the Pick-5 pot. The third race, which is the first leg of the bet, saw $422,271 in total play.

After a formful sequence that saw the odds of the winners come back 7-2, 7-2, 6-5, 3-1 and even-money, many winning Pick-5 tickets for $541.70 were cashed after the total pool of over $260,000 was divvied up.

The 20-Cent Survivor Pick 10 once again saw big play (a total pool of $20,005), and, once again, it resulted in a jackpot as one lucky winner, betting into a Portland, Ore. hub, walked away with $17,000.54 after surviving seven legs.

The Early 20-Cent Jackpot Super High Five resulted in a single-ticket winner, and that patron, wagering into a Maryland hub, cashed in for $7,622.70 at the conclusion of the ninth race.

About the only big pot not raked belonged to the Late 20-Cent Jackpot Super High Five (Race 13), which once again failed to produce a single-ticket winner. That wager’s carryover now stands at $126,952.

Racing resumes at the Big M Friday, March 9 at 6:35 p.m.

(With files from the Meadowlands)