Cowgirl Hall took the field through wicked fractions but had plenty of pop late, scoring in a track record clocking of 1:52.3 in Tuesday’s $18,000 Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows.
On a day not suited for track records — temperature less than 20 degrees, wind chill even colder — Cowgirl Hall was impervious to the weather. The five-year-old daughter of Cash Hall-Centerfold Hall rolled through fractions of :26.4, :55.2 and 1:23.1 before cruising home to win in 1:52.3 for Dave Palone, defeating the pocket-sitting Count Me In by 2-3/4 lengths, with Mistress Valentine third. The time knocked a tick from the previous track record for older trotting mares that Cowgirl Hall held jointly with Daylon Miracle.
Ron Burke trains Cowgirl Hall, who has won 15 races this year and $637,303 in her career, for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Jack Piatt III and Michael Rosenthal.
Mike Wilder and Palone each piloted five winners on the 15-race card.
With his Tuesday haul, Palone pushed his career victory total to 16,762, solidifying his position as the world’s ‘winningest’ harness racing driver. The driver Palone passed, Germany’s Heinz Wewering, has 16,754 victories but isn’t scheduled to drive until Sunday, with six assignments at Hamburg-Behrenfeld.
(The Meadows)