On Saturday night, May 18 at the Meadowlands, Ake Svanstedt–serving as both trainer and driver–won both divisions of the first leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-olds on the trot with Six Pack and Muscle M Up.
In the first division, the look of the race changed with the scratch of 2018 Hambletonian champion Atlanta, but that appeared to suit Six Pack just fine. The son of Muscle Mass-Pleasing Lady was on the move from the start and moved to the lead while parked past the quarter in :27.2, putting 3-5 favourite Fiftydallarbill in the pocket.
A :30.3 sleepwalk of a second quarter followed as the top two betting choices raced one-two all the way to the wire. Fiftydallarbill rallied some in deep stretch but was no threat to Six Pack, who held on by a half-length in 1:53.1 in his 2019 debut.
As the 6-5 second choice, Six Pack returned $4.40 to his backers while winning for the 16th time from 24 starts, good for earnings of $1,383,290. A year ago, his major wins included the Kentucky Futurity and Yonkers Trot.
While Six Pack has a monster resume, stablemate Muscle M Up does not, but that did not stop the son of Muscle Hill-Fashion Athena from taking the other Graduate division in a lifetime-best 1:51.2.
Svanstedt once again asked his horse for early speed and got it, racing on the lead at the quarter in :27.2 before yielding to 3-5 chalk Mission Accepted. Crystal Fashion raced first over to go after the leader around the far turn with Muscle M Up waiting for some space to race.
Muscle M Up got room by swerving out to the four path for the stretch drive and, once there, had enough clearance to do so and cruised past the field to record a half-length win over Crystal Fashion. Mission Accepted was third.
The winner returned $17.60 to his backers as the third choice in the wagering and won for the seventh time in 14 lifetime starts. His earnings stand at $87,972.
A LITTLE MORE: Tim Tetrick drove four winners on the card, while Andy McCarthy had two to run his total to nine over the last three programs.
Betting on the 50-Cent Pick 4 was vigorous as a total of $111,102 was poured into the pot. Those sharp enough to have the sequence with winner’s odds of 4-1, 7-1, 7-2 and 11-1 hit for $1,182.15.
Of the 11 pacing events on the card, seven went in under 1:50.
All-source wagering was just short of the $3-million mark, as $2,947,166 was pushed through the windows.
Racing resumes Friday, May 24 at 7:15 p.m. Gabe Prewitt will make his return to the Meadowlands’ TV team and serve as co-host of the live in-house simulcast show.
(with files the Meadowlands)