Valentino held off Get It Now by a nose to win the $25,000 second leg division of the Four Leaf Clover Series on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack
.
Valentino chased Strand Hanover (Pat Berry) to the lead in a swift :53.3 half, edged away at the top of the stretch and dug deep at the wire to win his second start of the season in 1:50 over a quick-closing Get It Now (Brian Sears), who was part of the favoured entry. Art Professor (Ron Pierce) made a three-wide sweep for the show money.
Valentino returned $15.60 in the 10th race feature for four and five-year-old pacers. The son of Rocknroll Hanover-Schoolofcardknocks finished on the board in 17 of 29 starts for earnings of $318,577 in his lucrative three-year-old campaign last year. He was third in the $1 million Meadowlands Pace. Nick Surick trains Valentino for Kdm Stables Corp. and JL Benson Stables.
The $100,000 Four Leaf Clover final will be contested next Saturday, March 19.
River Shark sailed to a career-best 1:49 victory off a perfect pocket trip in the $32,000 Invitational Pace earlier in the evening. Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras) finished a length and a half behind in second and Golden Receiver (Andy Miller) rallied from last to show. Brian Sears steered the popular five-year-old Four Starzzz Shark-Riverview Diamond gelding to his third straight win for trainer Mark Ford and co-owners VIP Internet Stable, Richard Di Nozzi and El Lobo.
Driver Pat Berry put Whiskey Pete on the lead after the opening quarter and held off Europan Union (Andy Miller) and favourite Tobago Cays (David Miller) to win Saturday's $27,500 Preferred Pace for four-year-olds by a nose in 1:50.4. New York’s Theodore Gewertz owns the four-year-old son of Art Major-Cheryls Western, who earned his third win this year, while Nat Varty trains.
For Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Meadowlands.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)