O Lucky Me flashed brilliant speed winning the first two legs of the Quarter Mile Pace, and she showed more of that front-end determination to win Friday’s $24,000 final
at The Meadows.
As he had in the previous legs, trainer/driver Ray Paver sent O Lucky Me toward the front, but congestion forced him to modify his plan.
“She gets so wound up, yet she was relaxed leaving, so I was fortunate to be able to drop over,” Paver said. “But when they tapped the brakes up front, I figured I better come with her.”
O Lucky Me found a seat third but moved to the lead past the quarter pole. The daughter of The Panderosa-Natchitoches had things her way until Shes An American and Tony Hall brushed up from third. When Shes An American edged away by a narrow margin, O Lucky Me dug in.
“I finally got her relaxed just as Tony came at me at 100 miles an hour,” Paver said. “Then I had to get her back in gear. But she responded well. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her.”
O Lucky Me prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Shes An American in 1:54.1, equaling the fastest mile this year by a three-year-old filly trotter on a five-eighths mile track. Sabines Filly was a ground-saving third.
Steve Jones bred and owns O Lucky Me, who is ticketed for another early-closing series at The Meadows and Pennsylvania Sires Stakes racing in the spring and summer.
Elsewhere on the card, Superfast Stuart, a five-year-old son of Kadabra-Great Expectations, established a track record when he took a conditioned trot in 1:54.1. Hopes Victory set the previous record of 1:54.3 for older trotting horses in 2005. Mike Wilder drove Superfast Stuart for trainer Greg Wright and owners Jon Erdner and Jim Schaming.
(The Meadows)