Dancin Dragon roared from the pocket into the final turn, blitzed by the leader and had just enough late to capture Friday’s feature at The Meadows for the hot trainer-driver combination of Randy Bendis and Tony Hall.
In only his second start this year, Dancin Dragon took full advantage of his pocket trip in the $15,000 conditioned pace, putting away Do Work Son with ease. But he needed to dig deep for Hall to thwart the late bid of K Ryan Bluechip and down him by a neck in 1:51.2. Humboldt completed the ticket.
Bendis trains and co-owns the five-year-old Dragon Again-McDance Desire gelding, who lifted his lifetime bankroll to $239,540, with Pollack Racing LLC.
Hall piloted five winners on the 13-race card, including three for Bendis and a pair for trainer Jack Smith, while Dave Palone fashioned a four-bagger, including two wins for trainer Mike Palone.
Live racing at The Meadows resumes Monday when the program features a $12,651.31 carryover in the final-race Super Hi-5 and a $5,000 total-pool guarantee in the Pick 4 (races three through six). First post is 1:05 p.m.
(With files from MSOA)