His driver claimed he had to shake off some cobwebs, but it didn’t appear that way in the Saturday, April 5 pacing feature at The Meadowlands, a $32,143 high-end conditioned pace, as Dexter Dunn guided Macs Delight to victory lane in 1:51.1 over the 'good' track.
“I’m a bit rusty, but picked some good ones tonight and they did the job,” said Dunn, who took home the trophy for the Dan Patch Driver of the Year for the fifth time in six years at the conclusion of 2024, of his two-win night in his first night back driving after a four-month vacation.
Things panned out rather well for Dunn and Macs Delight, who delivered for the chalk players as the 3-5 public choice.
Primary Colors (Jason Bartlett) blasted away from the gate to grab the lead around the first turn. Captain Crusader A (Todd McCarthy) was right with the leader while 5-2 second choice Southwind Gendry (David Miller) made his way toward the lead racing on the rim. Macs Delight found a comfy spot in the four-hole as Captain Crusader A hit the quarter in :27.2.
In search of a third straight score, Southwind Gendry made the top just after the three-eighths and reached the half in a rated :56.3, but he couldn’t deal with Primary Colors, who popped out of three-hole and sprinted past Southwind Gendry in a flash as Macs Delight followed incredibly live cover. Primary Colors had the lead on the far turn and was timed at three-quarters in 1:24.4, but Dunn must have loved his chances from there as the leader gave way in mid-stretch as he steered Macs Delight to an easy two-length win for trainer Tom Cancelliere. Primary Colors held second with Surfside Beach (Jordan Stratton) third.
“It was a good drive to pick up,” said Dunn. “Obviously, he’s in good form and we got out of there pretty well and got a good helmet to follow around that last turn. It worked out perfect.”
Macs Delight, a five-year-old gelding by Bettors Delight out of Michelles Pride, registered his 17th lifetime victory from 52 starts while upping his lifetime earnings to $337,642 for owner John Cancelliere of Clark, New Jersey. He paid $3.40 to win.
Making his pari-mutuel debut on North American soil, Irish import Always B Colour IR thrilled his legions of fans with an easy wire-to-wire win in the fifth race, and in the process, became the fastest pinto horse in history after stopping the clock in 1:52.
A pinto is “a horse or pony of various breeding that is marked with patches of white and another colour,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, but the definition doesn’t do justice to just how striking one of these horses are up close.
Driver Lauren Tritton blasted away from the gate with the four-year-old son of Always B Miki-Mamma Said on the way to a 2-1/2-length score. The winner is trained by Lauren’s husband, Shane.
In Saturday's top trot, a $35,714 Winners Over Handicap, Jeff Cullipher trainees Resolve To Win and Outside The Fire were neck and neck at the wire in 1:52.3. Resolve To Win, a five-year-old chestnut son of Resolve and Sensual Hall, prevailed for Jason Bartlett in a new lifetime mark over his 3-2 favoured stablemate, driven by Todd McCarthy, with pacesetter Sea Can and Dunn finishing 3-1/2 lengths behind in third. Pollack Racing owns the top two finishers.
Bartlett led the driver colony with three victories on the card to get back within six winners of Brett Beckwith, who leads the Big M standings with 51 walks down victory lane. Michael Posner and Jeff Cullipher each had a pair of victories to top the trainers.
There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of just over $5,000 for Friday night. The winners' odds for the sequence were 4-1, 2-1, 3-5, 5-1, 3-5 and 47-1/32-1. Those with five correct collected $30.34.
All-source handle on the 14-race card totalled $3,186,996 USD.
Racing resumes on Friday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)