They have exchanged wins all winter and Thursday night was no exception. The setting was round two of the Charles Singer Memorial Trotting Series, with a purse of $15,000, and the match-up was Opulent Yankee and JL Cruze.
Coming into Thursday night, the scoreboard showed a three-to-one lead for JL Cruze, with Opulent Yankee's victory coming in round two of the Super Bowl Series. The "Round Two" trend continued for Opulent Yankee on this night.
Sent off as the 3-2 second choice (coupled with Blocking The Way and Propulsion), Opulent Yankee went straight to the lead with his driver Andy Miller, posting fractions of :28.1, :57.1 and 1:25.2.
JL Cruze got away mid-pack and waited for the cover flow develop as Campbell sat patiently with his Super Bowl champion. Blocking The Way committed to the lead and JL Cruze took up the chase behind that trotter, but sat loose cover on the far turn while Opulent Yankee continued to coast.
Turning for home, JL Cruze had work to do while Opulent Yankee shot away from the field. Campbell's trotter accelerated nearing the wire and closed the margin, but he could not catch Opulent Yankee, who went a big mile on a cold night in 1:53.4. Detroit Rapper rallied to finish third.
Opulent Yankee is owned by Little E LLC, Arthur Geiger, Jason Settlemoir and David Stolz and is trained by Julie Miller.
The Charles Singer Memorial Final will be one of three series finals contested on the Saturday, February 21 program.
Yannick Gingras won three races, while Andy Miller and Brett Miller each drove two winners on the card. Steve Elliot was the trainer of the night winning with two of his three starters.
At the mutuel windows Thursday night, there was $33,183 wagered into the last race Jackpot Super Hi-5 pool, over 50 per cent more than the previous Thursday night. With more than one winning ticket, the carryover expanded to $110,127.87. Additionally, the fifth race Jackpot Super Hi-5 also continued to grow its carryover, which now stands at $18,506.14.
The Pick 5 paid out to one winning ticket on Thursday night, returning $27,930.10 for a $.50 cent wager.
Racing resumes on Friday night with post time at 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)