Always At My Place found the drop in class from the open handicap ranks very much to his liking Saturday night as he overwhelmed seven overmatched foes in the featured $17,000 conditioned pace at the Meadowlands.
The five-year-old gelded son of Always A Virgin was urged to the lead by driver David Miller just after the quarter – which went in :27 – and maintained the top at the half in :54.4 and three-quarters in 1:22.3.
Pansformative and driver Joe Bongiorno could only provide token pressure while racing first-over heading for the top of the stretch, at which time Always At My Place powered clear of the field with Miller sitting still in the sulky.
Always At My Place was a handy winner gearing down at the wire and paid $3.80 to win as the 4-5 public choice. After pacing a final quarter in :26.4, the Ron Burke trainee hit the finish in 1:49.2, winning for the first time in four 2016 starts. All Week split rivals in deep stretch to get second, while Ashleys Husband was third.
Miller had the hottest hands of the night, visiting the winner’s circle four times. In addition to Always At My Place, “The Buckeye” also scored with Well Bred ($6.20) in the first race, Good Day Mate ($14.20) in the ninth and Lyons Snyder ($5.20) in the 10th.
All-source wagering on the 12-race card was $2,756,830, which was $104,839 more than the corresponding program from the year prior, which had 13 races. Once again, the 12th race Jackpot Super High Five was not hit, upping the carryover for the next card to $184,704.87.
Live racing resumes at the Meadowlands on Friday, first race post time is 7:15 p.m.
(Meadowlands)