A winter series standout last season, River Shark resumed his winning ways in the $40,000 second round of the Aquarius on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack
.
River Shark, with Dan Dube at the lines, cut a swift opening quarter of :26.1 and faced pressure from Keep It Real (Tyler Buter) as they spiraled through middle fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.4. River Shark dug in gamely in the stretch to hold off Keep It Real by a neck in a final 1:50.3 clocking. Handsome Harry (Yannick Gingras), who upset the field in the first round of the series, never left the pylons and finished third. River Shark paid $5.40 to win the sixth race feature.
River Shark made an impressive sweep of the Robert J. Suslow Series and won an elimination race for the Berry's Creek during his three-year-old campaign last year at the Meadowlands. He also finished second in both preliminary legs and the final of the Matt's Scooter Series, as well as the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs. River Shark ended his sophomore season with a slate of six wins, five seconds and four thirds and $340,928 in earnings.
The son of Four Starzzz Shark was originally a $9,000 yearling purchase by Aaron Waxman and trainers Dave Sabatelli and Carmine Fusco. VIP Internet Stable and El Lobo (Irwin Kaplan and Arthur Libman) acquired interests in the pacer last May. Sabatelli developed River Shark at two and three, while Fusco took over training duties at the start of this season.
The $84,000 (est.) Aquarius Final is next Saturday, February 20.
Brennan Scores Another Six-Pack, Pulls Ahead In Driver Standings
For the second time in two weeks, George Brennan steered home six winners on a single card Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Brennan's skein included Wildridge Sam ($6.60) in race three, Oragami Artist ($7) in race four, Melvins Dream ($6) in race eight, Mr Hallowell ($31.80) in race 10, Distinct Color ($8.60) in race 12 and Armbro Carruthers ($4.60) in the race 13 finale. The six-pack nudged Brennan into the lead in the driver standings with 64 wins to Brian Sears' 63 at end of the February 13 card.
Brennan, 42, of Perrineville, New Jersey, last accomplished the six-win feat on Sunday, January 31. His personal best was seven winners at the Meadowlands on August 11, 2006. The Meadowlands record for most wins on a card is eight, set by Mike Lachance on July 14, 1995.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)