Coming off his first loss since December 13, Rockeyed Optimist returned with a vengeance by winning his division of the Sonsam Pacing Series at The Meadowlands on Saturday night.

The first $17,500 division went postward as race two on the Saturday program with a field of six and Rockeyed Optimist was sent off as the 3-5 betting choice from post position one.

The early speed came from Bettorever, fresh off his runner-up effort in round one with Corey Callahan. In fact, Bettorever proceeded to cut the mile, establishing fractions of :26.3, :55.4 and 1:24.4, stealing a :58.1 middle-half under no pressure... that is until Rockeyed Optimist and Brett Miller made their move.

The favourite sat back in fourth position early on and was guided to the outside approaching the half-mile pole, where he proceeded first over, eventually racing on even terms with the pacesetter.

Turning for home, Rockeyed Optimist exploded and powered away from the field, winning in a sparkling 1:50.3, pacing the final quarter in an absurdly-fast :25.4. The win was one of four on the card for Brett Miller on the heels of his four-win performance Friday night.

Rockeyed Optimist is trained by Steve Elliott for Anthony Perretti, Virginia Berkner, A and B Stable and Joseph Battaglia. The pacer surged past $100,000 in lifetime earnings while earning the ninth win of his career from 23 starts.

Major Uptrend will be shooting for the series sweep, following his win in the second division of the Sonsam on Saturday night.

After briefly allowing JK Patriot to claim the early lead, Yannick Gingras quickly guided Major Uptrend to the lead before the opening quarter and clicked off fractions of :28, :55.4 and 1:23.4 before facing just mild pressure from Company Man, who moved first over.

In the stretch, Gingras called to his gelding and the response was evident as there was never an anxious moment through the stretch. Major Uptrend won while racing well withing himself, equaling his mark of 1:50.3, identical to the winning time of Rockeyed Optimist in the first division of the Sonsam.

Major Uptrend is trained by Ron Burke for Howard Taylor.

In other racing action, National Seelster, the three-year-old colt that opened eyes winning upon debut two weeks ago, returned to the races on Saturday night and returned with another win. Allowed to sit the pocket throughout the mile, National Seelster found room late in the stretch up the pylons and accelerated rapidly to win again, in 1:53.1. National Seelster, a son of Bettors Delight trained by Chris Ryder for Robert Mondillo and Oompas Farm, is now two-for-two to start his career.

An intriguing match-up could be on the horizon between a pair of undefeated and lightly raced three-year-olds in the William "Buddy" Gilmour Series between National Seelster and Wiggle It Jiggleit. The latter won a division of the first round of the Sonsam Series and will square off with Rockeyed Optimist and Major Uptrend in the final of that series before tackling National Seelster in the Gilmour.

The fifth race Jackpot Super Hi-5 went unclaimed, but there were only two winning tickets, which paid a dividend of $4,257. The last race Jackpot also carried over to the tune of $123,827 into the last race on the Thursday program, which will begin at 7:15 p.m.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)