No Meladys Monet, no problem. That has been the theme for Odds On Amethyst over the past month and that theme continued Friday night at The Meadowlands.
In his last five starts, Odds On Amethyst has faced Meladys Monet twice, losing both races. In his other three starts, he has found the winner’s circle, including tonight at The Big M.
Assigned the outside post in the field of eight, Odds On Amethyst was a 4-5 favourite in the $30,000 Open Trot with Brett Miller in the bike. He showed his customary speed from the onset and took the early initiative through a quarter in :27.1 and a half-mile in :56.1. At that point, the favourite faced a challenge from the Ron Burke-trained mare, Handover Belle, making her second start off the layoff. She pressed the tempo with Appomattox drafting in the pocket throughout. Tag Up And Go sat second over on the far turn, followed by Modest Price, who fanned wide through three-quarters of 1:24.2 while commencing a rally. But as the field of Open trotters straightened away in the stretch, it was clear this race belonged to Odds On Amethyst as he opened up on the field at will, winning by open lengths in 1:52.3. Appomattox was able to save the runner-up spot, while Modest Prince rallied to be third.
Odds On Amethyst is owned by Diamond Creek Racing and trained by Jimmy Takter. He is nominated to the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial, which kicks off the Championship Meet at the Meadowlands, with the eliminations on Saturday, May 9 and the final on Saturday, May 16.
The supporting feature was the $25,000 Dash For The “G” Notes Final for filly and mare pacers. The race featured plenty of early action, with HS Open Waters reaching the quarter in :27.3 then Smokin N Grinin quickly grabbing the lead between calls, but yielding to Top Brand at the half-mile in :55 seconds. Brownsville Bomber came up to challenge the leader and took over past three-quarters in a strong 1:22.4. That mare was quickly engaged by Crazy On You, who grabbed the lead in mid-stretch, but stumbled and went off-stride as both Beach Granny and Ballineen went by. Those two mares sprinted to the wire together with Ballineen nosing out Beach Granny on the wire in 1:52.1. Crazy On You was off-stride through the finish and was disqualified and placed ninth. Brownsville Bomber finished fourth and was placed third.
Ballineen was driven by Scott Zeron for trainer Steve Elliot and owner Ernest Hartman.
The win by Ballineen sent two lucky fans on a trip to Jamaica. The Meadowlands ran a promotion in which 10 customers were selected and each given a horse in the eighth race. The customer with the winning horse would win a trip for two to Jamaica. That winner was Lawrence Harbor, New Jersey resident Brenton Rousey, who was just as excited to be cashing the winning exacta ticket and wrapped up his interview by exclaiming “The Big M is number one!”
The GSY Amateur Series continued on Friday night and this week it was the Robert Krivelin show as he scored a driving double winning both $8,000 events with Current Crisis and Permanent Joy. Krivelin finished second in both amateur trotting events the previous week and has taken a commanding lead in the early part of the series. Hannah Miller had a good showing, finishing second with Jacks To Open and fourth with Rev It Now.
The driving stars on the program were Jim Marohn Jr. and Scott Zeron, both scoring driving triples on the card.
The fifth race Jackpot Super Hi 5 went unclaimed with multiple winning tickets connecting. That carryover will be $61,472 into the Saturday program. The last race Super Hi 5 also had multiple winning tickets, resulting in a carryover of $11,841 into 12th race on the Saturday program, which begins at 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)