The Canadian-campaigned No Control pulled off a stunning victory for trainer and co-owner Tan Micallef during the second leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-olds on Friday night at The Meadowlands while three-time O'Brien Award-winning driver James MacDonald headed south to steer the winners in two of the four $68,493 divisions.
The first pacing event went to 29-1 longshot No Control with Jordan Stratton driving the Micallef trainee to a new lifetime mark of 1:47.3 over the 'good' track.
After an alert getaway led to a pocket trip, Stratton had more than enough horse late to overtake leader Christchurch, who ended up fourth, and more than enough horse to hold off a late-charging Seafire by a half-length. Huntinthelastdolar, the 6-5 favourite, finished third.
“I think he was getting overlooked on the board,” said Stratton. “He went parked in the Juravinski [when fifth as the 8-5 public choice]. He’s really fast off the wings. The fractions [:26.4, :54, 1:21.1] were fast and it worked out. He was really good. I’m just thrilled.”
No Control is now nine-for-19 lifetime and has earnings of $247,977. The Control The Moment-Dani Hanover gelding is owned by his Moffat, Ont. based trainer along with Keira Liberte of Hagersville, Ont., Ian Clarke of Guelph, Ont., and James Clarke of Oakville, Ont. He returned $60 for the upset win.
MacDonald scored in the first of two trots with his gelding Hasty Bid, co-owned by his wife Paige and trained by Nancy Takter while racing stateside. The son of My MVP-Sunshinenlollipops scooted up the inside late after a pocket trip to best 2-5 favourite Special Way by 1-1/2 lengths in a lifetime-best 1:51.3.
“He’s been a good horse his whole life,” said MacDonald. “His first two starts this year were probably the worst two of his life. We sent him down to Nancy and they said they wanted to try him barefoot. Nancy did a great job and the horse was phenomenal tonight.”
Hasty Bid raised his lifetime bankroll to $598,375 after winning for the fifth time in 26 lifetime outings. As the 6-1 fourth choice in the betting, he returned $14.60 to his backers.
Currently the leading driver in Canada this year with 184 wins, MacDonald scored his second Big M victory of the night – and the year – with 8-5 second choice Coach Stefanos in the second of two dashes on the pace.
“When you get to sit behind power like that, it makes things pretty easy," said MacDonald. “We were lucky tonight. We had him in a good spot. I know what he’s capable of. It was set up and he knew what to do.”
After getting a live tow from Command to three-quarters, Coach Stefanos tipped off that cover in the straightaway and rolled to a three-quarter-length win over a hard-charging Voukefalas in a lifetime-best 1:47.3. Seven Colors, the 3-2 favourite, led to the top of the stretch before wilting to fifth.
The Erv Miller-trained Coach Stefanos now has 16 wins from just 33 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $859,977, for Illinois owners Kenneth Duffy, D And M Trading Ii Llc and John Stefanos. The Tellitlikeitis-Watch N Be Watched gelding returned $5.20 to win.
The least surprising result of the night was in the second division for trotters as the Takter-schooled Winners Bet scored as the 1-5 chalk in a lifetime-best 1:50. The son of Walner-Side Bet Hanover picked up a perfect second-over tow from 22-1 outsider Black Magic and rolled by his foes to record a 1-1/2-length score over a stubborn, speedy Ponda Jet, who led from the quarter to the stretch.
Takter’s tactic of racing in the Graduate after three winning qualifiers paid off perfectly.
“He’s a really nice horse, I expected him to race well,” said Takter, who had 16 wins from just 37 Big M starts at the start of the night. “I knew he had a good mile in him, but maybe not 1:50 over a track rated ‘good.’ He’s become really versatile. [Driver] Dexter [Dunn] gave him a great trip. It couldn’t have worked out any better.”
After winning for the seventh time from 21 career starts, Winners Bet upped his lifetime earnings to $746,537 for owner Lindy Farms Of Connecticut and New Jersey's Robert Rudolph. He returned $2.60 to win.
The 1:47.3 clockings by No Control and Coach Stefanos have the twosome tied for the fastest mile of the year at The Big M.
Winners Bet’s mile time of 1:50 tied Jiggy Jog S and Lexus Kody atop the leaderboard for the fastest mile of the year in the sport on the trot, with all three coming at The Meadowlands. In addition, Winners Bet is now tied with Six Pack (2019) for the fastest mile in track history for a four-year-old horse.
In non-stakes highlights on the card, the Joe Holloway-trained Nuclear, a three-year-old son of Always B Miki-Cantgetenuffofyou, sparkled in his seasonal debut, popping out of the pocket to score in a conditioned event in 1:48.4. The gelding is Meadowlands Pace eligible.
All-source handle on the 15-race card totalled $2,688,289 USD.
Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack; Photos, clockwise from top left, of No Control, Coach Stefanos, Winners Bet and Hasty Bid)