After trailing by nine lengths at the half, Summer Blast took advantage of live cover and blasted through the stretch to win a division of the Whotookwhat - an early-closing series for three-year-old filly trotters – during Thursday’s program at The Meadows.
ML Brown Sugar captured the other $15,000 division in the opening leg of the series.
Summer Blast, a daughter of Ilooklikemymom, had won only a fair race in her previous 14 starts and was dismissed at 10-1 but she performed like an accomplished veteran for Dave Palone. She rode third-over cover before tipping wide for the stretch drive. Summer Blast scored in 1:59.4 over than Northmedo Esther, who came up a head short, and Allthatnabagofchip
Roy Brown trains Summer Blast, whose previous mark was 2:02.3 in a qualifier, for Daniel J. Miller. The victory was one of four on the 14-race card for Palone.
ML Brown Sugar erased an even larger deficit, making up 10 lengths for Aaron Merriman en route to a half-length victory over Pleasures Song in a career-best clocking of 1:58.4. Suesrayofsunshine was third.
The win was the sixth in 12 races for the daughter of Bands Gold Chip, who captured Michigan’s juvenile sires stake final last year. Paul Kennedy, Jr. trains ML Brown Sugar for Paint Creek Farms.
The series is named for Whotookwhat, a seven-year-old trotting mare - still active at The Meadows - who is approaching $600,000 in lifetime earnings.
(The Meadows)