Faithful fans of The Meadowlands product produced another huge night of action at mile oval on Jan. 9 as, for a third-consecutive Saturday, betting topped the $3.6-million mark.
All-source wagering on the 15-race card totaled $3,646,603.
Just like one week ago (Jan. 2), a big first-race guaranteed 20-cent Pick-5 pool set the tone for the night. The wager carried not only a $100,000 pool promise but had a $25,000 seed as well, which was provided by track management and the Standardbred Owners Association of New Jersey. In the end, the total P5 pool represented $195,759 of the $411,664 bet overall in the opener.
Play was steady all night long, as three times single-race totals exceeded the $300,000 mark. The track’s Pick-4s were predictably popular with players, as a total of $180,909 was pushed through the windows on the two wagers.
Over the last three Saturdays, betting has totaled $11,927,330, an average per card of $3,975,776.
NO REGULAR JOE: Grizzled veteran Western Joe used a quick brush to grab the top before the half and flaunted his back class from there, crushing his foes in the featured $19,000 high-end conditioned pace.
The seven-year-old gelding by Western Ideal-Ante Fay, who is trained by Chris Choate, stopped the clock in 1:50 with Dave Miller driving to win for the 30th time from 97 starts. His earnings now stand at $712,908.
As the 2-5 favourite, he returned $2.80 to his backers. Paduka N was three-and-a-quarter lengths back to finish second. Rockin The Aces was third.
THAT’S EIGHT, MATE: Driver Todd McCarthy capped a superb weekend with four winners on the card. The 27-year-old recent Australian transplant, who also won four times Friday night, was the key to the 20-cent Pick-5 payoff of $25,057, winning three times during the sequence, including a score at 29-1 with Effronte A in the fourth race.
THAT’S A HALF-DOZEN, COUSIN: Dave Miller matched McCarthy by winning four times Saturday after recording a driving double Friday.
Fans of “The Buckeye” will have to do without the Hall of Famers talents for a while, as Miller is now heading to Florida for the winter. He plans to do some driving at Pompano Park.
A LITTLE MORE: There was something for everybody during the races, as seven favourites clicked during the night while four winners were sent to the gate at odds of 11-1 or more. Marcus Miller guided two of those, scoring at 11-1 and 39-1. Three of those long shots scored in the 12th, 13th and 14th races, leading to a $1 Pick-3 that returned $2,858.00.
Free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card are available at playmeadowlands.com.
Racing resumes Friday (Jan. 15) at 6 p.m. (EST).
(The Meadowlands)