One week after tasting defeat despite receiving what was a perfect second-over trip as the 2-5 favourite, High Speed Swan had much to prove on Friday, Feb. 13 at The Meadowlands in the featured $34,247 Winners Over Trot, and prove much he did, scoring in remarkably determined fashion in a lifetime-best 1:52.3.
“He grabbed the right line pretty good in the stretch last week,” said winning driver Colin Kelly. “It was a bad drive by me; I gave up my spot.”
While Kelly was a little tough on himself, there was no doubt he was going to try things differently this time around.
The action was hot at the start, as High Speed Swan was away quickly from the rail while Finite (Joe Bongiorno), after a hard-luck loss last week, was first-over, and Bestfriend Volo (Ridge Warren) was stacked up at the quarter three-wide with a narrow edge as he reached that beam in :27.1.
Bestfriend Volo was on the lead at the half in a taxing :54.4 with Finite in the pocket. Kelly went into attack mode with High Speed Swan, vacating the three-hole and moving quickly to the top as 3-5 favourite Super Duper Cooper (Brett Beckwith) was a menacing presence alongside as three-quarters went in 1:23.3.
It looked like Super Duper Cooper had things under control, but High Speed Swan wasn’t having any of it. The duo were on even terms shortly after straightening away in the lane, and High Speed Swan, displaying grit and determination, found more with just over a sixteenth of a mile to go and went on to record a three-quarter-length victory over the favourite. Longshot Aquarius Face S (Bradley Chisholm) was third.
“He’s such a high-speed horse,” said Kelly of High Speed Swan. “He’s such fun to drive.
“I released Finite pretty cheap last week [when Finite was a good second], and we got back to the lead pretty easy tonight. I wasn’t sure I was going to hold on. Super Duper Cooper is an awesome horse. My horse went a tough trip and I hope he’s just as good again next week.”
High Speed Swan returned $7.20 to his backers as the 5-2 second choice in the wagering.
Doug Dilloian Jr. trains the winner for owners David Linker of Delray Beach, Florida, Brian Loman of Champaign, Illinois and Robert Venable of Noblesville, Indiana.
The four-year-old gelding by Swan For All out of Aunt Susie has now won seven of 34 lifetime outings, good for earnings over $230,000.
Kelly, Brett Beckwith and Mark Herschberger all won three races to tie atop the driver leaderboard on Friday's 15-race card. Per Engblom paced the trainers with three jaunts down victory lane.
Two shrewd players took down some big green by having the only winning tickets on The Big M’s new $1 Pick 8. After $14,604 of “new money” was poured into the hat on top of the carryover of $40,684, the two tickets with eight correct were exchanged for $26,543.90. Once players got past the first leg, where the winner went off at odds of 10-1, a very havable sequence with winners sent to the gate at 2-1, 4-5, 1-2, 2-1, 5-2, 1-5 and 9-2 followed.
The $1 Pick 8 will resume on Saturday with $50,000 in seeded money from wager sponsor Peter Kleinhans serving as the fuel to entice players. The bet is offered on races three through 10.
All-source handle on Friday's program totalled $2,829,403 USD.
Racing resumes Saturday at 6 p.m. The new 6 p.m. post time will stay in effect until April 25.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)