He might have been late to the table, but Dinner At The Met is serving up wins this year for trainer Erv Miller.
Unraced at age two, the three-year-old gelding pacer has won four of five races this season. His only setback was a second-place finish to National Debt in the opening round of the Buddy Gilmour Memorial Series at Meadowlands Racetrack.
In the second leg of the Buddy Gilmour Series for three-year-old pacing males this past Saturday, a heavily favoured Dinner At The Met had his way with eight over-matched foes.
Corey Callahan picked up the drive for the listed Andy Miller, who was absent for the card due to travel complications, and the assignment was a simple one. Sent out for the lead from post six, Dinner At The Met faced no opposition through very kind fractions then jetted home in :27.2 to close out the mile in 1:53. Recharge took the place and Rock Fame held third.
Trained and owned in part by Erv Miller along with Bert Hochsprung, the Metropolitan gelding will surely have to be dealt with next week in what shapes up to be an interesting contest. Next week, Dinner At The Met will square off with round one winners National Debt and Capital Account.
“He was a big, immature colt and he just took a while to come around,” said Miller, who bred and owns Dinner At The Met with Illinois’ Bert Hochsprung. “He was ready at the end of October, but we figured at that point it was better to give him some more time rather than press on.
“He was always handy, but he was just like a big, gangly kid. He just got better and better with more time. He’s still a little green; when he gets to the front he gets a little lost.”
Two weeks ago, Dinner At The Met paced the mile in 1:51.1, including a :26.4 last quarter, but lost by three lengths to National Debt. In his first career start, he paced the opening quarter in :26.3 before settling into a :59.4 middle half on his way to a 1-1/2 length victory in 1:55 in a conditioned race at the Meadowlands.
“He’s always done everything we’ve asked of him,” Miller said. “He’s a nice horse.”
Dinner At The Met is a homebred son of stallion Metropolitan out of the mare Grabbersome. Miller, who has finished among the top six trainers in North America for both wins and purses each of the last 10 years, and Hochsprung claimed Grabbersome toward the end of her eight-year-old season, raced her seven times (winning two) and then turned her into a broodmare.
Grabbersome, who won 31 starts and $175,621 in her career, produced five foals and all of them won races. Her top offspring to date was Harley Girl, who won twice on the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes circuit as a two-year-old in 2009. All totaled, her foals have won 34 races and $237,320.
“She was a real consistent mare,” Miller said. “She always put her best foot forward, that’s why we bred her. She was a trier.”
Following the Gilmour Series, the plan is for Dinner At The Met to go to the Bobby Weiss Series at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. From there, it will be off to Indiana for sire stakes action.
“I think that will be a good spot for him out there,” Miller said.
(with files from HRC and Meadowlands)