The month of January generally isn’t known for wicked speed and big miles, but someone forget to tell that to Golden Receiver
. The gelding ripped off a mile in 1:48 – the fastest ever in the month of January – in the first of two divisions of the Presidential Series.
Brian Sears wasted no time hustling Golden Receiver to the lead from Post 8, and after ripping through fractions of :25.3, :54 and 1:21.3 the seven-year-old son of Village Jove-Royal Gold kicked home in :26.2 to register the record-setting performance. Runner-up Annieswesterncard was a length in arrears, with Summer Camp another pair of lengths back in third.
The 1:48 performance lowered the January speed record by one-fifths of a second. The previous standard of 1:48.1 was set by Blatantly Good at the Meadowlands.
Mark Harder trains the 38-time winner for Stable 45, Richard Taylor, Stephen Springer and Nina Simmonds. The career-best performance helped the pacer push his lifetime earnings to $689,075.
River Shark was much the best in the second division of the Presidential Series, winning by 3-1/4 lengths in a sparkling clocking of 1:48.4 for driver Tim Tetrick.
The Mark Ford-trained six-year-old son of Four Starzzz Shark-Riverview Diamond sat off fractions of :26 and :54.1 before brushing to the lead shortly past the mid-way point. He led at the three-quarter pole in 1:22.1 before using a :26.3 closing quarter to seal the deal. Even-money favourite Vintage Master was second, with Rockin The House grabbing third prize.
It was the 23rd lifetime tally for River Shark, who is owned by Mark Ford, VIP Internet Stable LLC, Robert Di Nozzi and El Lobo LLC. The hard-knocking campaigner has banked $770,327 to date.
The Saturday evening program also featured two divisions of the Complex Series, and trainer Ron Burke produced a 1-2 finish in the opening split.
Itrustyou, fresh off his sweep of the Valedictory Stake at Woodbine Racetrack, survived a first-over trip en route to edging out his stablemate Risk Management in an impressive clocking of 1:50. The four-year-old son of Third Straight-Dynamic Lady held on to win by a half-length over Risk Management, with Avenue Hanover grabbing a third-place finish.
Sent off as part of the heavily favoured entry, Itrustyou extended his winning streak to eight-in-a-row while winning for the 11th time in his career for the Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, PA. He has stashed away more than $150,000 in lifetime earnings.
Voice Of Truth used last-second heroics to capture the other Complex Series division in 1:51.2 for driver Brian Sears.
The Brian Magic-trained four-year-old son of Real Desire-Shandelle Hanover prevailed in the final strides despite being parked every step of the mile. He prevailed by a neck over Intrigued Royally, with Joltin Colt rounding out the top three in what turned out to be a blanket finish.
It was the ninth lifetime tally for Voice Of Truth, who is owned by Judy Magie of Chesterfield, NJ. The homebred banked more than $95,000 last season, and he’s put away more than $129,000 to date.
The night belonged to catch-drivers Brian Sears and Yannick Gingras, with each of them finding the winner's circle on five occasions.
To view results for Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results – Meadowlands Racetrack.