Drawing the outside post position nine proved to provide no problem for the red-hot Oceania in the Friday night feature at the Meadowlands, a high-class conditioned pace for fillies and mares.
The five-year-old daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven-Western Cruise was in the early fray around the first turn and followed the cover of Dongal Rundlscrk N down the backside and never saw the rail until she made lead at the three-eighths.
Driver Andy McCarthy had plenty of horse power under the hood, as after a half in :55.4, Oceania paced her third fraction in :27.4 before a final-quarter sprint of :27 saw her hit the wire 1-1/4 lengths in front of an overmatched Dongal Rundlscrk N. Believe In Me was third.
“She was vicious tonight,” said McCarthy. “(Trainer) Robert Cleary has done an excellent job in keeping her quiet and manageable. We are expecting this mare to mix things up in the open ranks.”
Oceania completed the mile in 1:50.3 and returned $3.00 as the odds-on public choice to stay perfect in three starts this year. Lifetime, she’s won 16-of-57 outings and earned $181,031 for owners Royal Wire Products and United Process Control.
The second edition of the Can-Am Pick-4, a wager that requires a player to pick two winners at the Big M and two at Woodbine Mohawk Park, saw a total pool of $58,715, approximately $1,000 more than the debut of the bet one week ago.
The payoff on the 20-Cent base wager was $780.98. The winner’s odds were 7-5, 1-2, 22-1 and 5-1, so like a week ago, shrewd bettors who had the one big price cashed in big.
Yannick Gingras led the driver’s colony with four winners on the program, while Jimmy Whittemore, a name not-so-well-known at the Big M, scored twice with a pair of prices.
Whittemore, who has been driving regularly of late at Saratoga, pulled off a shocker at 37-1 in the third race with Bold Fresh before completing his driving double in the seventh with 9-1 chance Only Passing Thru. Both of his winners were trained Marissa Chadbourne. It was the first Meadowlands appearance of the year for both driver and trainer.
A pair of big carryovers awaits 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five players when racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The fifth race will start out with $71,880 in the hat, while the 13th race will offer $38,433 to start.
(Meadowlands)
Amazing race by Oceania.
Amazing race by Oceania. Looking forward to seeing how far she takes things in the future. As for the payoff yep there really was an opportunity to make some good money in that race. As for Whittemore I wondered who this guy was. I think it said they were from Maine... maybe the trainer was. Anyway after the second win you see that smile on his face enjoying what he had done at The Big M. Best of luck to him in the future.