On another competitive evening of racing that saw several staple wagers come back with big payouts, speed horses reigned supreme at The Meadowlands on Friday, taking the track’s three featured events, all of which had the condition of non-winners of $11,500 in their last five starts, while leading at every call.
The first of the wire-to-wire victors was Scirocco Jakob for driver Billy Dobson and trainer Gregory White. After starting out at 15-1 on the morning line, the six-year-old gelding trotted the mile in 1:55.1 and returned $17.20 to win as the 7-1 fifth choice in the wagering.
Know It All, with driver/trainer Eric Abbatiello, took the fillies and mares pace in 1:53.1. The seven-year-old mare had been facing better stock at Yonkers in recent tries and took well to the class drop, returning $10.40 to win.
In the second division for trotters, Montalbano Bi held on by a nose over a fast-closing Fleet Bumblebee in 1:55.2. The six-year-old gelding, driven by Jim Marohn Jr. and trained by Patti Harmon, returned $5.20 as the public choice.
The Pick 5 wager sported a total pool of $49,622 and when the dust cleared after Race 7, the winning combination of 6-3-9-2-5 returned $31,656.15 for a wager of 50 cents. The 20 Cent Survivor Pick 10 had a pool of $21,546 and two lucky patrons walked away with $9,152.72. The Pick 4 attracted $81,043 in wagers, and after two favourites, a 4-1 shot and a 6-1 chance, won races eight through 11, the payout for 50 cents was $420.10.
A LITTLE MORE: Andy Miller, Dobson, Abbatiello, Greg Merton and Marohn all recorded driving doubles. … Chalk players had a nice night as six post-time choices scored on the program. … All-source handle on the 14-race card was $2,516,597. … The Late 20 Cent Jackpot Super High Five carryover grew to $61,900.15 when the wager failed to result in a single-ticket winner. … Racing resumes Saturday night with another 14-race program that gets underway at 6:35 p.m.
(Meadowlands)