When Lady Godiva pulled even with Marion Mistletoe in deep stretch Wednesday at the Meadows, it was impossible to tell with the naked eye which crossed the wire first. The camera couldn’t separate them either, as the pair dead-heated for win in the $24,600 championship of the Mary Wohlmuth Memorial Trot for three and four-year-old fillies and mares.
Neither mare won an elimination in the series, yet both took to the 'sloppy' going Friday. Marion Mistletoe got the jump when Doug Snyder angled her off the pylons around the far turn and cleared to the lead. But Lady Godiva found late room for Dan Charlino and rallied strongly for her share of the title.
“Last week was a better start for her,” Snyder said. “In the first leg I tried cutting it, but that wasn’t her forte. But tonight, getting a trip like that, she was a lot better than she’d been.”
Dane Snyder trains Marion Mistletoe, a daughter of SJs Photo--Party Prize, for Judy Magie.
For trainer Lou Goans and his wife Karen, who jointly own and bred Lady Godiva, a daughter of Sierra Kosmos--Yellow Feather, the day brought an almost unbelievable mix of highs and lows. The couple was observing their wedding anniversary on the very day of the funeral for Karen Goans’ father, Charles S. Battistoni, Sr. As if that weren’t enough emotion packed into a single day, Lou Goans captured his first series championship at the Meadows with a 30-race maiden.
“When you consider all that, it makes this night kind of special,” Lou Goans said.
Lady’s Night finished third in the 2:01.1 mile.
In the $22,500 Preferred Handicap Trot, Bettis continued his impressive roll, coming from last to notch the victory — his seventh in 10 starts this year — in 1:56.1. TW Little Kosmo closed well for second, a length back, while Action Broadway was third. Aaron Merriman drove for trainer David Wade, who owns the six-year-old son of Sierra Kosmos--SJs Shad Roe with William F. Peel III and Gerald Brittingham.
(Meadows)