Golden Receiver prevailed by a neck over Lisagain after a lengthy battle in the $25,000 opening leg of the Four Leaf Clover Series Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack
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Golden Receiver fired to the front in a :26.4 opening quarter and matched strides with Lisagain (George Brennan) through middle fractions of :57 and 1:24.1 before edging away in the final strides. Driven by Andy Miller, Golden Receiver posted a final quarter of :27 flat toward a 1:51.4 clocking. Sent off as the 8-5 second choice, he paid $5.20. It was three lengths back to 6-5 favourite Pacinello (Tim Tetrick), who never left the pylons.
The win was Golden Receiver's second in nine seasonal starts. Trained by Mark Harder, the gelding improved his record to 16 wins in 40 career starts. The five-year-old son of Village Jove-Royal Gold is owned by Stable 45, Richard Taylor, Stephen Springer and Nina Simmonds.
Earlier in the night, Alexie Mattosie turned in a game, front-end performance to win the first of the two Four Leaf Clover divisions over Pangiorno (Ron Pierce) in 1:50.3. Livefreeordiehard (Brian Sears), the overwhelming 3-5 betting choice, faded to third after challenging the winner through the backstretch.
Alexie Mattosie paid $14.80 as he posted his first victory in eight outings this season and 12th in 42 career starts. Anthony Montini trains the four-year-old son of No Pan Intended-Dame Crombie for Donald Lindsey, Paul Kleinpaste, William Alempijevic and Dennis Mavrin.
The Four Leaf Clover Series continues with a second leg on March 13 and concludes with a $132,000 (est.) final on March 20.
In Open action, Share The Delight pulled off a 10-1 upset with Yannick Gingras in the bike for trainer Linda Toscano.
Handsome Harry (Ron Pierce) put up a :26.2 opening quarter before a parked out Western Shore (Tyler Buter) took over en route to the half in :55.3. Meanwhile, Gingras had Share The Delight positioned second over in seventh after a Post 9 start.
As the field headed to three-quarters in 1:22.1, Poker Hat (John Campbell) moved to the outside from fourth and Share The Delight followed his cover, Corky Baran (Brian Sears), wide.
On the front, Handsome Harry pulled the pocket and regained the lead, but Share The Delight used a :28.1 final frame to sweep past the wall of closers on the outside. The five-year-old son of Bettors Delight-Angels Share stopped the clock in 1:51.1. Lets Getit Started, the favourite and last week's winner, finished three-quarters of a length behind and Corky Baran came in third.
Share The Delight has won half of his six starts this year for The Four Horsemen Stable, Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc., 3 Brothers Stables, and Algonquin Farms. The lion's share of the $32,000 purse pushed the 18-time career winner's bankroll over the $500,000 mark.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)