Perfect Alliance continued her perfection on the racetrack on Thursday night with another powerful win in the $15,000 first division of the second leg of the Charles Singer Memorial at the Meadowlands.
On a cold and blustery night with temperatures in the high teens and a strong, steady wind facing the horses for the length of the homestretch, Perfect Alliance raced wide around the first turn to make front then drilled home in 28.4 to close out a 1:53.2 new career best. Ray Hall again followed the winner around the track, just as he did last week and was second best. You Rock My World was third.
The winner’s share put her over $100,000 in lifetime earnings for owners Little E, Settlemoir, Stolz and Geiger. The Credit Winner mare will now go into the $52,600 March 8 final as the prohibitive favourite for trainer Julie Miller and her regular driver Andy Miller. Coming back bigger and stronger at age four, it appears that Perfect Alliance has an opportunity to become a major factor in the mare trotting division.
The most formidable opposition will likely come from Time To Quit, who carries an unbeaten streak of his own into the Singer final. While his wins have been by much smaller margins, Time To Quit has been getting the job done for the Ron Burke barn and Yannick Gingras. This one was a “by the skin of his teeth” nose win over Cajole Hanover in 1:54.1 to put his seasonal earnings over the $60,000 mark for owners Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura.
Yannick Gingras didn’t display much confidence about his chances against Perfect Alliance in the Final, stating “I’m not sure he (Time To Quit) can go with Perfect Alliance, thankfully, she’s in the other division again. She’s done it three (starts) in a row. I think she’s the only horse that can win from the outside, the rest need an inside post and a trip.”
It is certain that the road to the Charles Singer Memorial winners circle goes through Perfect Alliance.
Racing returns with a 13-race program Friday night, featuring a pair of $30,000 Free For All’s, one for the trotters and one for mare pacers.
To view the results from the Thursday night card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results - Meadowlands.
(Meadowlands)