In Friday’s $25,000 Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows, Diamond Hunter got the jump down the backside, but Rembrandt Spur gobbled up his lead in the lane. At the wire, the two were inseparable in 1:55.1, the fastest trotting dead heat ever on a 5/8-mile track

. Impeccable Image and NY Speed Limit established the previous mark of 1:55.3 in 1998 at Dover Downs.

When Eric Ledford sent Diamond Hunter first over from third, he had little trouble clearing Speed Bomb on the lead. But he also provided live cover for trainer/driver Dick Stillings and Rembrandt Spur, whose 2009 mile of 1:53.3 at The Meadows equaled the mark of Shermans Mountain as the fastest ever by a three-year-old gelding trotter on a 5/8-mile track.

Rembrandt Spur made up 1-1/2 lengths in the stretch to set up the dead heat while Rose Run Keepsake closed well for third. Jeff Cox trains Diamond Hunter, a five-year-old gelded son of Fortunefivehundred-Erikas First Lady, for Sherree Cox and Richard McNutt. Roy Davis owns Rembrandt Spur, a son of Pegasus Spur-Marty E.

Brett Miller drove four winners on the 13-race card, while Dave Palone and trainer Ron Burke enjoyed three-baggers.

(The Meadows)