Shuffled to fourth nearing the final turn, Timelesswinner Two found racing room in the lane and charged through to capture the $100,929 final of the Currier and Ives for three-year-old trotting fillies last night at the Meadows.
Although Timelesswinner Two sailed to an unchallenged 13-length victory in her elimination, she encountered much more movement in Monday’s final after making the front before the quarter pole. She relinquished the lead and sat tight behind SJs Minolta and David Wade, winners of the other elimination, hoping they would carry her to the lane.
“From past experience, I know David’s horse struggles a bit in the turns,” said winning driver Dave Palone. “Once she gets through the turn, she’ll take off again. I was actually pretty content where I was. I thought if I did battle with her when she came at the quarter pole, it would be suicide. So I was content to follow.”
The daughter of Broadway Hall--Meadowbranch Lily scored in 1:56.4, a half-length better than Caviar Forthe Lady, who also was bottled up after leaving but closed outside with a rush. The game SJs Minolta saved show.
Julie Miller trains Timelesswinner Two for Rodney Mitchell Inc. and Freida Ivory. Although the filly’s time was two full seconds off the stakes record performance she put in one week earlier, the performance in the final may have been more impressive, as it came in the wake of a worrisome foot injury.
“Julie did a real good job just having her ready for this race,” Palone said. “She had a little abscess on her foot. She might not have been as sharp as she was last week, but she had an excuse and still got the job done.”
Marty Wollam, who trains Caviar Forthe Lady, said he thought he might have had the winner when his filly and Charlie Norris surged through the lane.
“I got a little excited there,” Wollam said. “She raced great. I didn’t really have a game plan; I leave that up to the driver. But in that race, if you follow either of the Daves, Palone or Wade, that’s where you want to be.”
(With files from the Meadows)