The first of six Thursday race cards this year at The Meadowlands featured four divisions of the first leg of the Exit 16W Pop-Up Series, and Herecomesdajudge and Dismas were two good-looking winners.
Herecomesdajudge took the $28,169 split for trotters that are four years old and younger in 1:54.4 for trainer Julie Miller and her son, driver Tyler Miller. The three-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Designed To Be sat a comfortable two-hole trip behind Soft Landing (Joe Bongiorno), who took the field past the quarter in :27.3 and half in :58.2. Despite the sleepy :30.4 second fraction, Herecomesdajudge moved off the rail heading to three-quarters and grabbed the lead at that station in 1:27.2 on the way to an easy 3-3/4-length score. Walkwhileyourtalkn (Niko Karna) was second with Atlantic Canadian star Bless Me Father (Scott Zeron) third in his U.S. debut.
The winner’s Kentucky back class showed as he notched his sixth win in 27 career tries while upping his bankroll to $196,263. Herecomesdajudge is owned by Andy Miller Stable Inc., TLP Stable, and Caroll Huffman. The colt was coming off a vet scratch on Oct. 28 at Cumberland Run.
“He wasn’t feeling like himself [on Oct. 28],” said Tyler of the regular sire stakes competitor in the Bluegrass State. “We didn’t want to race when he wasn’t at his full potential. I was still pretty confident [tonight]. He felt great and loves that trip. He’s been racing well in Kentucky.”
Herecomesdajudge returned $6.20 to win as the 2-1 second choice in the eight-horse field.
Dismas, a three-year-old gelded son of Lazarus N-Itz Cherry Ripe N who is trained by Per Engblom, won the second of two $24,648 divisions for two- and three-year-old colts and geldings on the pace in 1:51.1 as the even-money public choice.
Driver Braxten Boyd opted to sit a pocket trip, and it worked to perfection. After leader Doctor Arroganto (Lauren Tritton) cut out fractions of :26.3, :55.3, and 1:24.1, Dismas vacated the pocket with a little less than an eighth of a mile to go, and under some energetic urging from Boyd, got up by a neck over Doctor Arroganto. Lastdrivedownmain (Zeron), who, according to Boyd, suffered a flat tire, was third in the eight-horse field.
“It looks like the horse is very capable,” said Boyd, who teamed up with the winner for the first time. “[Sitting in the] two-hole was perfect, that was a decent one to follow and Scottie [Zeron, driving Lastdrivedownmain] got a little bit of a flat tire there, so that helped. [Dismas] put up a great performance tonight. Hopefully, I can get the drive back and have a little success with him.”
Dismas is now three-for-14 lifetime, good for earnings of $38,286 for owner Ben Taylor. He paid $4.20 to win.
Captivated ($10.80) romped in the other split for pacing males with Boyd aboard for trainer Bill MacKenzie. The sophomore gelded son of Tall Dark Stranger-Never Ever Forget brushed to the lead after the quarter in :27.3, set up middle fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.2, and kicked home to a 6-3/4-length margin and a new mark of 1:51.4. Farkle (Lee Morris) edged out Alotmoreaction (James Kennedy) for place. The winner was making his debut for new owners MacKenzie, Donald Witkowski, and Vincent Ali Jr. He is now three-for-15 lifetime with a bankroll of $43,044.
Twin B Cardi B ($4.80) slingshotted out of the three-hole en route to a dominant debut victory in the sole $24,648 Exit 16W contest for two- and three-year-old pacing fillies. Anibal Borjas had her camped third through early splits of :28.2 and :58.1, let her roll en route to three-quarters in 1:26.4, and she thundered clear to a 2-3/4-length victory in 1:54.1. House Blend (Zeron) closed for second, followed by Crunchalous (Boyd) in third. Twin B Cardi B, a three-year-old daughter of Stay Hungry-Perfectlysweet, earned $12,077 with her successful first start for trainer Tony Alagna and owner Alagna Racing LLC.
Boyd was red-hot, leading the driver colony with four wins on the nine-race card.
A carryover of $7,950 coaxed punters to place $31,945 of new money into the 20-cent Pick-6 pool. Those with winning tickets had big smiles on their faces after the Bill Clark-driven Uncle Coz won the payoff leg at odds of 45-1, creating a return of $17,551.66. All-source handle on the nine-race program totalled $1,037,622.
Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from The Meadowlands; photo of Herecomesdajudge winning on Nov. 6)