When last seen, Radar Contact was winning the Betsy Ross for Open mare pacers at Harrah's Philadephia over some of the best older mares in training. She returned to The Meadowlands Friday night and it should come as no surprise that she called the winner's circle her home again.
Leaving from post position nine in the $28,500 Open Handicap for the pacing mares, Radar Contact was overlooked in the wagering despite her excellent form, escaping at 4-1. With her typical partner, John Campbell in the bike, Radar Contact left for position while her rival Inittowinafortune established the early lead through a :26.4 opening quarter with Weeper in the pocket and Radar Contact stalking the speed from mid-pack.
Down the backstretch, Radar Contact began to make her move, but Weeper was also in gear as that mare pulled the pocket and Radar Contact found herself three-wide briefly nearing the half-mile pole. Radar Contact grabbed the lead as the field passed the half-mile in :54.2 and he led the mares passed three-quarters in 1:22.2. Weeper remained just behind her throughout with Katie Said applying pressure first over.
In deep stretch, Radar Contact was able to keep Weeper in the pocket as she powerfully paced to the wire for her seventh victory of the season in 1:49.2, a new lifetime mark for the seven-year-old. Weeper was second and Katie Said was third.
Radar Contact has been first or second in 15 of 17 starts this season, earning over $195,000. She is owned by Charles Stillings and Dean Ehrgott and trained by Noel Daley.
In other action, Iron scored in his three-year-old debut, one of two wins on the card for trainer Frank Antonacci. A Hambletonian hopeful, Iron displayed a strong turn of foot winning in a sharp 1:53.4 while rallying without Tim Tetrick asking him for his best. The win was one of three on the card for Tetrick.
Trainer Chris Ryder also scored a hat-trick on the card and his was of the natural variety as Ryder trainees won races four, five and six. Among those wins was Southwind Poseidon, who trotted to a lifetime-best 1:52.3 performance.
Dave Miller also won three races on the card, with John Campbell and Yannick Gingras both winning a pair.
Friday night marked the first round of the Cathedra Dot Com series for fillies and mares meeting the condition of non-winners of $5,000 in their last five starts, or those that have started more than six times at Freehold in 2015. The first leg was split into three divisions, with Oceans Motion pulling off the upset in the first division, Candy Styx N scoring a mild upset in the middle division and Real Drama making it back-to-back victories in the third grouping.
Table Talk paced to a sub-1:50 performance, winning an upper-level condition event for pacing mares in a lifetime-best 1:49.3 for Tetrick.
On the wagering front, total handle for the Friday program reached $2,990,467, a near 15 percent increase over 2014, with the on-track handle growing by nearly 20 percent. Both Jackpot Super Hi-5 carryovers continued to grow Friday night. The fifth race carryover now stands at $146,080 while the last race carryover grew to $121,232.
The 13-race Saturday program features four divisions of the Graduate Series, two for the four-year-old pacers and two for the four-year-old trotters, a series that Father Patrick will headline.
The Saturday action begins at 9:30 a.m. with Breakfast with the Babies and the simulcast of the Belmont Stakes in which the gates open at 10:30 a.m.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)