It was a Callahan kind of night Friday at The Meadowlands as “The Captain” notched six wins on the card.
The six victories moved Callahan into sole possession of third place in the driver standings behind Yannick Gingras and Dave Miller. In addition to book-ending the night with wins in the first and last race, Callahan will have a decision to make in the “Dash For The C-Notes” series, earning wins in two of the three divisions with Captain Primeau and Kings Cavalier.
Callahan also guided Undercover Strike to a victory in the trot feature, a $20,000 B-2/B-1 handicap. The six-year-old gelding was a convincing 1:52.4 winner in just his second start of the season for owner F Bellino And Sons LLC and trainer Jonas Czernyson who recently brought his string north from his winter base at Sunshine Meadows.
Joe Bellino was present for the race and spoke on the winter's prep for what his connections are hoping will be a successful campaign.
"Jonas was impressed with him all winter,” said Bellino. “He told me early on that he felt ‘Strike’ was a top quality horse and we have paid him into all the major stakes this summer".
In this one, Undercover Strike rolled up uncovered and wore down the formidable mare, Real Babe, after she had enjoyed friendly fractions on a loose lead throughout. The pair sprinted hard from mid way around the final bend before the winner edged clear by two lengths with a :27.1 sprint on the end.
A few races later the top pacing mares lined up in a B-1/A-2 handicap for $22,500. Momma Rock scored a mild upset in that one benefitting from a perfect pocket steer by John Campbell.
An early scrum developed when three mares left fast and Campbell used his inside position to release the favoured Lorrie Please and seat Mattie Terror Girl behind him through a :27-second opener. From there it was an easy ride for Campbell and Momma Rock, drafting in the wake of Lorrie Please through a soft middle half then sailing through the inside past that one and holding off the furious late rally by Hot List to register the 1:51.4 lifetime best score at 8-1.
Bill MacKenzie trains the grey Rocknroll Hanover mare for Victor Apolinario of New Jersey.
Racing resumes on Saturday with a $30,782 carryover into the Pick 5. The wager covers races one through five and offers a 50-cent minimum bet. With the World Harness Handicapping Championship being contested, the pick 5 pool will be even larger than a normal carryover. Post Time for the pick-5 carryover is 7:15 p.m.
(Meadowlands)
To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results – Meadowlands Racetrack.