Final Breath and Icanflylikeanangel staged a stirring duel for the final five eighths of the mile before Final Breath finally surged ahead to capture Monday’s $20,000 Open 1 Handicap Trot at The Meadows.
Icanflylikeanangel grabbed the early lead for Mike Wilder in a demanding 26.1, prompting Tony Hall to send Final Breath after them at the quarter. When Icanflylikeanangel refused to release Final Breath, the battle was on. Only in the shadow of the wire did Final Breath get his head in front to score in 1:53. Perlucky, hard used himself from post 8, was a good third.
Norm Parker trains Final Breath, a 10-year-old Victory Sam-First Breath gelding who soared over $600,000 in career earnings, for Duane Lowe.
Jim Pantaleano and Hall each collected three wins on the 13-race card.
Live racing at The Meadows continues Tuesday when the program features a $5,000 total-pool guarantee in the Pick 4 (races 3-6) and a $4,821.69 carryover in the final-race Super Hi-5. First post is 1:05 p.m.
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)