After finishing an uninspiring ninth in his seasonal debut on Jan. 17, Rock My Universe sported a lifetime record of one win from 30 lifetime starts. Predictably, not much was expected from the four-year-old gelded son of Walner-Youlightupmyworld in his next outing on Feb. 7, but Rock My Universe pulled off a 15-1 surprise that night.

Something in outer space had changed.

Since his inauspicious start, Rock My Universe has won four of his last six Meadowlands outings, including a victory in the Friday April 4 feature, a $20,000 high-end conditioned trot.

“He loves this track,” said winning trainer/driver Mike Simons of his student, who worked out the right trip to take advantage of his late-closing ways.

Flight Landing (Mark Herschberger), who won two starts back on the front end in 1:54.1, set sail for the lead from the rail in the seven-horse field as 2-1 favourite Supernova Hanover (Braxten Boyd) set up shop in the pocket while Rock My Universe raced in the three-hole.

The quarter went in :27.2 followed by a half in :55.2, but Flight Landing started to slow down after he reached three-quarters in 1:25. Supernova Hanover popped out the two-hole late on the far turn as Rock My Universe followed that one’s move and swung three-wide into the stretch.

Rock My Universe then roared past the favourite and did have an anxious moment or two as Soar Higher closed quickly along the inside, but at the wire, it was Rock My Universe a neck in front of Soar Higher with Lukes Bar (Patrick Ryder) a fast-closing third. The final time of 1:53.1 was a lifetime best for Rock My Universe.

“We got away well, behind the horse we wanted to follow,” said Simons. “He angled out there before the stretch and he did his thing. I heard somebody coming late and I got a little nervous, but my horse dug in. He’s got some guts.”

Rock My Universe now has five wins from 37 lifetime starts, good for a six-figure bankroll amounting to $113,323 for owners A P Racing of West Chester, Pennsylvania and William Masterson of Yardville, New Jersey. As the 5-2 second choice, he paid $7.80 to win.

Brett Beckwith padded his lead atop The Big M driver standings by guiding four winners on the night. The 22-year-old pilot now has 51 victories on the year. 

Despite some predictable outcomes, the 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 returned $828.46. The winners' odds for the sequence were 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, 5-2, 5-1, 1-5 and 2-5.

All-source betting totalled $2,862,995 USD on the 14-race program. 

Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)