Tim Tetrick, North America's leading money earning driver of 2011, dominated the second night of racing at the new Meadowlands Racetrack scoring five victories on the 13-race card, including one with Preferred Pace winner Andy Roo
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In the $25,000 sub-feature, Andy Roo ($6.80) worked his way to the lead through a :27-second opening quarter and fronted the field past middle fractions of :55.3 and 1:24 before holding off the hard-closing Corky Baran, who trailed the 10-horse field early on, to win by a neck in 1:51.4. Sand Summerfield finished one length back in third.
The seven-year-old The Panderosa gelding, who made his last start on Dec. 17 at Yonkers Raceway, is trained by P.J. Fraley for Baron Racing Stable. The lion's share of the purse pushed his career earnings over $580,000.
The win was one of three for the Tetrick-Fraley team. The duo also won with Outa My Head ($52) and Real Flight ($4.60). Real Flight was part of the early Tetrick Daily Double, which began with a win aboard the Michael Posner-trained In Kennys Honor ($12.60). Tetrick also guided River Shark ($5) to victory lane for conditioner Mark Ford.
Saturday's featured $30,000 Invitational Pace went to the front-striding Golden Receiver ($6) and driver Brian Sears. The popular pair fired off the gate from Post 8 and reached the top at the opening quarter in :26.3. They continued to show the way past the half in :54.2 and three-quarters in 1:22.3 and held off the pocket-pulling Annieswesterncard by a neck for the 1:50 triumph. The Tetrick-driven Foreign Officer finished over six lengths back in third.
The seven-year-old Village Jove gelding was making his first start since winning at Pocono Downs on Nov. 12 and notched his third win in a row. Mark Harder trains the career winner of nearly $670,000 for Stable 45, Richard Taylor, Stephen Springer, and Nina Simmonds.
After a strong opening on Friday, the wagering momentum continued to build Saturday night at the Meadowlands. The live handle was $442,822, up 40 percent over the $316,205 wagered the previous year. The $2,725,660 total handle represented a 6.5 percent increase over the $2,558,273 wagered in 2011.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Meadowlands Racetrack.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)