City Hall ($5.80) used another powerful stretch kick to crush his eight foes in Friday (December 16) evening’s co-featured $18,000 top-level pacing event at The Meadowlands, winning his fourth consecutive race and giving driver Brett Miller one of eight wins on the 13-race card.
Miller floated into midfield with the six-year-old Metropolitan gelding, settling well behind Matrix Of Luck (Joe Bongiorno) and Bullet Bob (Corey Callahan), who alternated on the lead through early fractions of :27.2 and :56. With just over half the mile remaining, City Hall latched onto live second-over cover from Screaman Seaman A (Marcus Miller) and worked into contention on the far turn before pushing three-wide off the corner and vaulting clear at once. Ultimately City Hall would use a :26 final kick to put four and three-quarter lengths on the field for a 1:50.1 score. Bullet Bob held second despite heavy pressure through the far turn, while El Bloombito (John Campbell) saved third out of traffic.
Amber Buter trains City Hall for Gene Oldford Farms LLC and Tyler Buter.
Miller’s eight driving wins on the card gives him a share of the all-time record for wins on a single card at The Meadowlands, equalling Hall of Fame driver Michel Lachance’s eight-win performance in 1995.
In the co-featured $18,000 top-level conditioned trot, Toronto invader Rubber Duck ($4.80) made his Big M debut a winning one, continuing his ascent after losing cover on the far turn before drawing clear to a three and a half length win over I C Caviar (Brett Miller) and Buddy Hally (Corey Callahan) in a rapid 1:52.3 effort. Joe Bongiorno drove the four-year-old Muscle Mass entire for Alberta owners Blair and Erna Corbeil and new trainer Richard Johnson.
A 95-1 shocker in the fifth race proved too difficult to conquer for the handicappers leading to a $25,874.24 carryover in the Pick 5 heading into next Thursday’s program. This is the first Pick 5 carryover at The Meadowlands since March 25, 2016. On that night, a carryover of more than $31,000 helped create a total pool of $151,096.
The Pick 5 covers the first five races on the program. First race post time is 7:15 p.m.
Mister Truth, driven by Jim Marohn Jr. from post 10, just got up in the final strides to win a photo finish and trigger the massive payoffs. Mister Truth returned $198.40 for a $2 win wager, and 49-1 outsider Dancin Hill finished second to combine for a $2 exacta worth $2,768.20.
While the Pick 5 was too tough to figure, one lucky handicapper who wagered through Western OTB in New York was able to take down the Jackpot Super High Five, good for a $9,674.96 return for a 20-cent wager. The winning combination was 95-1 Mister Truth, 49-1 Dancin Hill, 4-1 Starlite Kid, 23-1 Something For Doc, and 28-1 Rockaholic. Blatantly Best, the prohibitive 3-5 favourite, checked in eighth.
This is the fourth time in the last five weeks that one of two Jackpot Super High Five wagers was hit at The Meadowlands.
Total handle for the 13-race program was $2,466,612.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)