Considering the talent level of the field he was facing, even driver Andy Miller must have been surprised at how easily his Sutton won his second straight Friday night feature at the Meadowlands, the $30,000 Preferred Handicap for trotters.
After all, Sutton was taking on arch-rival Trolley, the only horse to defeat him (twice) this year. In addition, there was $2.7-million lifetime earner Pinkman to contend with, as well as Dover Downs shipper All Champy, who was looking for his third straight win, not to mention Sutton’s stablemate, Top Flight Angel, who was second in last year’s Breeders Crown.
But there was Sutton, leaving the gate alertly before yielding the top to Pinkman at the quarter, and even though the track was unforgiving to speed all night long, Miller put the six-year-old son of Donato Hanover-I Wanted Wings right back on the point at the three-eighths.
After a sleepy :29.4 second quarter, Sutton was in full control as Trolley was the first to pull off the rail – from sixth – after the half.
His attempt to beat Sutton – as well as everyone else’s – would prove futile.
Sutton raced on a clear lead around the far turn as Trolley picked up cover from longshot Sortie, but no one ever got close. Sutton trotted his final quarter in :26.3 and hit the wire in 1:53. It was 2-1/4 lengths back to Pinkman. Sortie was third while Trolley finished fourth.
The winner, trained by Julie Miller, paid $4.20 to win as the even-money favourite and now has 13 wins from 40 lifetime starts and earnings of $557,288 for owners Andy Miller Stable and Jason and Douglas Allen.
The fifth edition of the Can-Am Pick-4, which requires a bettor to select two winners at the Meadowlands and two more at Woodbine Mohawk Park, provided the wager’s biggest pool yet, as a total of $65,333 was put in play.
After a sequence that saw winner’s odds of even-money, 8-1, 8-5 and 2-1, the return for the bet with the 20-Cent base was $87.17. The Meadowlands’ Dave Brower and Woodbine’s Jason Portuondo gave out winning selections to their followers.
In the 13th race 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five, 10-1 shot Knightofvictory held off 5-2 favourite Prince Of Minto after a stirring stretch duel and one player wagering into the Oregon hub had the lone winning ticket with the combination of 6-8-1-10-3 and cashed in for $68,059.
Five drivers won two races on the program: Yannick Gingras, Dexter Dunn, Corey Callahan, Dave Miller and Andy Miller. Ron Burke had a training triple while Mark Harder scored twice.
(Meadowlands)