Herecomesdajudge notched his second straight win in the second leg of the Exit 16W Pop Up Series at The Meadowlands on Thursday, Nov. 13, taking the $29,014 dash for four-year-olds and younger on the trot in 1:53.
The three-year-old colt by Muscle Hill-Designed To Be used his early speed to perfection, drawing alongside Swedish invader Bourbonista S (Vinny Ginsburg), who was making her first start in the U.S., at the quarter in :27.4 before taking over. The Tyler Miller-driven, Julie Miller-trained Herecomesdajudge then reached the half while pressured in :56.1 and three-quarters in 1:24.3, but he would not have an easy time of it through the stretch. Bourbonista S, the 4-1 second choice who sat a perfect pocket trip, came calling after vacating the rail with a 1/16th of a mile to go, but came up a head short. Dwood (Patrick Ryder) finished third.
“He got a little jammed up in the first turn,” said Tyler Miller. “But once he made the front, he was good. He had a good week and raced well last week.”
As the 3-5 favourite, Herecomesdajudge returned $3.40 to his backers. He has now won seven of 28 lifetime outings, good for earnings of $210,770 for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc., T L P Stable and Carroll Huffman.
“I’m very happy with ‘Dajudge’”, said Julie Miller, Tyler’s mother. “Tyler had to use him to get to the lead. Then had to fight off James [Kennedy, driving Top Gun Hanover] pulling out at the half [and putting on pressure]. He then dug in late for the victory and made the ownership group proud.”
Dismas ($5.60) made it two-for-two in the Exit 16W for two- and three-year-old male pacers, which went for $24,648. The Joe Bongiorno-driven three-year-old gelded son of Lazarus N-Itz Cherry Ripe N ceded the front after the :27.2 quarter, sat the pocket through :55.1 and 1:23.4 middle fractions, then charged to the lead in the stretch and held off Lastdrivedownmain (Jonathan Ahle) to win by a neck in 1:52.1. Doctor Arroganto (Lauren Tritton) was third. Per Engblom trains the winner, who is now four-for-15 lifetime with $50,610 in earnings, for Ben Taylor.
Crunchalous ($16.80) recorded his first lifetime win in the $24,648 Exit 16W contest for two- and three-year-old pacing fillies. Making her 14th start, the Captain Crunch-Scandalous Ideal filly tripped out with a pocket ride through :27.1, :56.4, and 1:25.4 fractions and hunted down pacesetter House Blend (Tritton) for a length win in 1:55. Sweet Mary Lou (Ahle) completed the triactor. Tyler Miller drove the winning rookie, now an earner of $41,097, for trainer Juan Cano and owner-breeder Hot Lead Farm.
Tyler Miller led the driver colony with three trips to the winner’s circle on the 10-race program.
There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, setting up a carryover of $2,346 for Friday night. All-source handle on the program totaled $1,180,987. Racing resumes on Friday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from The Meadowlands)