Maximus Miki returned to one of his favourite tracks on Saturday, Nov. 23 and put forth a remarkably game effort in taking the featured $55,556 Preferred Handicap for pacers at The Meadowlands.

A Tom Cancelliere trainee, Maximus Miki upped his 2024 stats at the mile oval to four wins in seven tries while hitting the board every time. His three losses came to standouts Oakwood Arden IR, Coaches Corner and Admiral Hill.

Saturday night’s trip was less than ideal for the five-year-old gelded son of Always B Miki-Beach Gal, as driver Andy McCarthy backed ‘Miki’ into the four-hole in the nine-horse field while South Beach Star (David Miller) sprinted to the quarter on the lead in :26.4.

South Beach Star was still sailing along on the point at the half in :54.3, and soon thereafter, McCarthy activated Maximus Miki, who started to make progress racing on the rim uncovered before a burst of acceleration got him to within a length of South Beach Star at three-quarters, which was timed in 1:21.2 on a night with winds gusting to 23 mph to go along with a real-feel temperature of 37°F (2.8°C).

The stretch drive was a battle, as South Beach Star dug in determinedly, but nearing the wire, it was Maximus Miki getting the better of his foe, hitting the finish first in 1:49.1 a half-length in front. Primary Colors (Yannick Gingras) rallied for third.

“He’s so tough,” said McCarthy. “He likes first over. He’s a big, strong boy. I really like this horse. I like horses who like first over. [South Beach Star] was going some pretty good fractions up there, and to finish up like [my horse] did in the wind, that was a pretty good mile.”

Owned by John Cancelliere, Maximus Miki returned $3.40 to his backers as the 3-5 favourite. He now has 21 wins from just 44 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $369,213.

A LITTLE MORE: Yogi Sheridan, Ake Svanstedt and Yannick Gingras were tied atop the driver’s leaderboard for the night with a pair of victories each. … Svanstedt conditioned both of his winners to lead the trainers. … A carryover of $3,690 led to a total pool of $27,635 in the 20-cent Pick-6, and after a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 2-5, 3-1, 3-5, 5-2, 3-1 and 1-5, winning tickets were exchanged for $182.30. … All-source handle on the 14-race card totaled $2,839,807. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m., before Saturday’s card marks the final big program of 2024 in the sport, as an estimated total of $2.65 million USD in purses will be doled out on Fall Final Four/FanDuel Championships Night.

(Meadowlands Racetrack)