The Meadowlands continued winter series action on Friday night, with two divisions of the Cape & Cutter and Exit 16W getting underway
.
There was a pair of $40,000 splits of the Cape & Cutter, which is for Open Mares.
Owner Bulletproof Enterprises won both divisions with Enhance The Night and Cuz She Can.
Enhance The Night, the runner-up in the 2008 Classic Series, swept three-wide at the three-quarters for driver Tim Tetrick and opened up enough daylight on her six rivals to win at 15-1. The six-year-old Western Ideal mare won by a length and a half, tripping the teletimer in 1:51.1. Go On BB (Yannick Gingras) won the place photo over Martha Maxine (Andy Miller).
Mark Harder trains Enhance The Night, who picked up her first win of the 2009 season. The victory was the 20th lifetime for the mare and boosted her bankroll to $556,272.
There was plenty of contested action in the second split, with Cuz She Can prevailing at the wire. Sitting fifth most of the way for driver George Brennan, the four-year-old Cambest mare also swept three-wide at the third marker, as a cavalry charge of mares came after leader Knock Three Times (Tim Tetrick) in the lane. Cuz She Can emerged from the win photo over Away We Go (Ron Pierce) in 1:52.2. Guestimate (Dave Miller) was a neck back in third.
Harder also trains Cuz She Can, who is 2-1-0 in three starts this year. Lifetime, she is eight-for-17, leading to earnings of $193,724.
The Exit 16W is for colt and gelding pacers who are four-years-old and younger and that were non-winners of three races or $100,000 lifetime as of Nov. 15/08. The two divisions went for $20,000.
Major General went down the road for driver Andy Miller. Setting the tempo in :27.4, :56.1 and 1:24.2, the four-year-old Western Ideal stud kicked home in :27.1 to win by three quarters of a length in 1:51.3. The Awful Truth (Tim Tetrick) was an eye-catching second and Scottery Tickets (John Campbell) raced first-over to get third.
Joe Poliseno conditions Major General for owner John Cancelliere. He is now one-for-three in 2009 and won for the fifth time in 20 career starts, pushing his bankroll to $222,168.
The Clyde Hirt Champ, Rocknroll Band, extended his win streak to four with a gate-to-wire victory. Driven by Dave Miller, the four-year-old Mattnamaras Band gelding cruised through stanzas of :27.2, :55.2 and 1:23.3 en route to a 1:50.4 score by two and a half lengths. Camshaft Hanover (Yannick Gingras) was next best, with Drive All Night (Tim Tetrick) rounding out the top three.
Ken Rucker does the training on Rocknroll Band for owner Engel Stable LLC. Now four-for-four in ’09, the gelding has 12 lifetime wins and earnings of $174,839.
To view the results, click here.