Apostles Creed benefited from a second-over trip to win the $44,400 Dexter Cup elimination on Saturday, April 25 at Freehold Raceway.
Brett Miller guided the Jimmy Takter trainee to his first win in his third career start, covering the mile in 1:59.4.
Apostles Creed ($11.80) was a one-length winner in the 10th race over 8-5 Divisionist, who edged out 6-5 entrymates HA Taylor and Bavaro. The top four finishers advance to the $133,170 Dexter Cup Final on May 2 at Freehold Raceway.
Four of the 12 entrants earned byes into the final: Broken Record, Gabe The Bear Dean, Habitat and Sixteen Encores.
Apostles Creed, a $120,000 Harrisburg yearling sale purchase, races for Christina Takter of East Winsor, New Jersey; John and Jim Fielding of Scarborough, Ontario; Joyce McClelland of Zanesville, Ohio; and Herb Liverman of Miami Beach, Florida. The Credit Winner colt now has one win and one second in three starts for earnings of nearly $29,000.
The Dexter Final will share the May 2 card with the filly companion race, the Lady Suffolk.
The stakes record for the Dexter, which dates back to 1960, of 1:55.3 was set in 2009 by Anders Bluestone. The Lady Suffolk record of 1:57.3 was established by Stacy Spice in 1996.
Hannah Miller, the 23-year-old miss who has been the scourge of the amateur ranks, added yet another victory to her fledgling resume when she guided Rev It Now to a come from behind 2:01.4 triumph in the seventh leg of the North American Amateur Drivers Series held earlier on the card. And that accomplishment came on the heels of her win in the final event in the USA-French Friendship Competition the night before at The Meadowlands, which vaulted the American team to victory over the French squad.
Like she has done in all of her races, the daughter of top trainer Erv Miller, again remained undaunted while competing against her male counterparts.
In Freehold’s third race on the betting card, Miller started slowly with her trotter and got away sixth at the first stanza, some 12 lengths behind of the early speed duel between Blazing Delores (Jim Marshall IV) and Wygant Prince (Paul Minore). After the :28.3 first quarter, Miller waited until the field headed for the halfway point before moving he trotter off the pylons.
Still sixth at the half, but now nine lengths behind Wygant Prince’s lead, Miller began to urge her trotter up the backside and at the three-quarters the crowd could anticipate what was going to happen. On the final turn, Rev It Now circled the leaders and took command in the homestretch, and trotted away to a solid one-length victory over a fast-closing 36-1 shot, Bellagio Hanover, driven by Steve Oldford. Wygant Prince held on for the show dough.
The winner is owned by Miller, her dad Erv, and her boyfriend Nick Surick, who is also the horse’s trainer. Rev It Now paid $5.80 for win.
With her victory, Miller is tops in points in the NAADA trotting series. With just two legs remaining, her 59 points is seven better than Alan Schwartz’s 52. Rounding out the top five are: Bob Hechkoff (40), Tony Verruso (35) and Paul Minore (22).
(With files from SBOANJ & NAADA)