He’d been away from the races for 34 days but that did not stop Thunder from lighting up his foes in the sixth and final leg of the Kindergarten Classic, a series for two-year-olds, at the Meadowlands on Friday night (October 26).
Thunder, a John Butenschoen-trained trotter, sat in the two-hole early before emerging from the rail with three-eighths of a mile to go. With Yonkers kingpin Jason Bartlett at the controls, the son of Conway Hall-CR Oh Suzanna made steady progress around the far turn to get within a head of leader Reign Of Honor before going on to a dominant five-length score. Reign Of Honor was second with Memo finishing third.
In lowering his previous lifetime best by one and one-fifth seconds, he completed the mile in 1:54.3 for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Jeremey Day and V I P Internet Stables. Thunder returned $3.60 to his backers.
A top performer throughout the year on the New York Sire Stakes circuit who finished second in his previous outing to the undefeated Gimpanzee, Thunder now has five lifetime wins in only 10 starts and has earned $213,071.
TOP OF THE CLASS: Four horses won second straight Kindergarten events as they remained sharp for next week’s finals.
Filly trotter Global Pageant (1:56.3) scored in the $10,000 opener for trainer Linda Toscano and driver Scott Zeron as the 4-5 favourite while filly pacer Odds On St Lucie (1:53.1) completed an all-chalk Daily Double at odds of 3-5 for the driver/trainer team of Brett Miller and Tony Alagna.
The Erv Miller-trained filly pacer Michelons Filly rolled by the field for a second straight week from sixth and last at three-quarters to score in 1:54.3 with Marcus Miller guiding the 1-2 public choice in the fourth race.
Divine Spirit was the last of those to win a second consecutive series start, taking a colt and gelding trot in 1:57.4 for driver Andy McCarthy and trainer Brett Pelling. He scored as the 7-5 second choice in the eighth race.
Other Kindergarten division winners were Cant Touch It, Macs Power and Waterway.
A LITTLE MORE: Alagna had three winners on the program while Brett Miller had two. … Favourites won the first six races on the card but were shut out the rest of the way. … One lucky player who used 17-1 chance Mayfair Johnny B on top in the 11th race 20-cent Jackpot Super High-Five cashed in big, walking away with $7,037.46 for holding the single winning ticket with the combination of 4-7-5-9-1. … All-source wagering on the 11-race program was $1,384,655. … Racing resumes Saturday night at 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)