Healthy dividends -- including a late Pick 4 which paid nearly $4,000 on a 50-cent ticket and a 52-1 upset from Fan Of Terror in the featured ninth race -- contributed to a ninth consecutive card with over $3 million in handle at The Meadowlands on Saturday (Feb. 27) evening.
A total of $3,342,144 was wagered on the 14-race program, extending the streak of racing programs with over $3 million in handle to nine. Over seven cards in the month of February, total turnover on Meadowlands races exceeded $22.4 million.
In the featured $20,000 top-level conditioned pace, Louis Frascella's Fan Of Terror ($106) stunned at 52-1 odds, overcoming traffic trouble in mid-stretch to narrowly prevail in 1:51 over the favoured pair of Jet Airway and Ashleys Husband.
Andy Miller prompted the pace with the four-year-old Western Terror gelding before yielding to duelling leaders Itrustyou (Yannick Gingras) and Aslan (Andy McCarthy) through a :27.3 initial quarter. As Jet Airway (Marcus Miller) commenced outer flow through a :55.1 half, Fan Of Terror found himself hard-pressed for racing room, only able to shake free in the final 150 yards when he split mid-stretch leader Jet Airway and a flattening Calvin B (Corey Callahan). Fan Of Terror lunged to the line to just collar Jet Airway, and 8-5 favourite Ashleys Husband (Tim Tetrick) charged down the grandstand side off a fourth-over trip to claim third. Dovuto Hanover (Scott Zeron), who made his seasonal debut in the race, rallied up the pegs late for fourth, just missing Fan Of Terror by a length.
Andrew Harris trains Fan Of Terror, now a 14-time winner.
The featured win was one of two for Miller, who took the finale as well with Rockin Jimmy ($6.80) in 1:53.2. Top driving honours on the night went to Marcus Miller, who captured three of the evening's 14 races. Andy McCarthy, Anthony Napolitano, and Tim Tetrick each also notched driving doubles.
Earlier in the program, the KJ Stables and Purple Haze Stables' Missile J ($2.60) earned his second consecutive win, holding pocket rival Connecting Flight at bay for a 1:52.2 win in a $10,000 event for non-winners of two races or $20,000. Tetrick drove the quickly developing three-year-old American Ideal gelding for trainer Linda Toscano.
As the seventh race 20-cent Jackpot High 5 was hit for the second time in three cards -- this one paying $8,016.64 -- only one pool carries over to next Friday's card. The final race Jackpot High 5 will see $116,448 added to the pool on Friday evening should one lone player prove successful.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)