After a so-so effort to start his sophomore campaign, Leland Mathias, Omer Miller and the Erv Miller Stables' Crime Of Passion flashed the form that made him one of the best in the state as a two-year-old on Saturday, June 2 at Balmoral Park, as he captured the $50,800 Cardinal Stakes by two and three-quarter lengths in 1:52.
Given a perfect steer by driver Casey Leonard, Crime Of Passion took advantage of starting from Post 2 and positioned himself in the garden spot as NJs Big Deal stormed through an opening quarter in :27.1.
“I really wasn’t sure if I was going to leave that hard with him,” explained Leonard. “But when I looked over and several of the top horses in this field were lagging the start a little bit, so I figured I would hustle him out of there and then let somebody go to get us covered up.”
With the action picking up on the backside, NJs Big Deal continued to show the way as a head strong Ice Scraper (driven by Kyle Wilfong) came charging up first-over to challenge as the sophomores hit the half-mile mark in :55.2.
“I thought we were in the perfect spot, so I wasn’t worried about the outer flow that was forming around us,” said Leonard. “I knew the horse on the lead (NJs Big Deal) was good enough to carry us to where we had to get.”
Midway around the final bend, a rank Ice Scraper made a break and forced several horses in the outer tier to move three and four wide to get around the trouble. That also gave Leonard a perfect chance to slide out of the pocket, which he did. He moved up to engage the pace-setter as the field reached the three-quarter-mile pole in 1:23.1.
Quickly swallowing up the leader, the roan, gelded son of Armbro Mackintosh looked like the horse that posted six wins during his freshman season, as he moved to the front and then held off a cavalry charge of pacers. NJs Big Deal gamely held on for second, while Uncle Smoothie (Brian Carpenter) rallied for the show dough.
After the win, Leonard was quick to praise the Erv Miller trainee.
“He’s a really nice horse to drive and I sure hope I get to stay with him,” said a smiling Leonard. “His first race of the year wasn’t as bad as it looked on paper and it served him well to get him tightened up and ready for this race. I remember some of his races from last year and it looked like he tried to wait on horses once he passed them so I just continued to work on him a little to keep his mind on his business but really he was pretty much in hand out there and it sure felt like there’s a lot more in the tank for this guy.”
Coupled in the wagering with King’s Legend, Crime Of Passion returned $7.40, $3.20 and $2.20 across the board while winning for the seventh time in his career.
The top older male and female pacers on the grounds were also in action on Saturday night.
(With files from Balmoral Park)