It was a case of long and short at the Meadowlands in a pair of New Jersey Sire Stakes Finals on Friday night, as Villiam scored at 85-1 in the two-year-old colt and gelding pace while 3-5 shot Fortune Starlet dominated in the two-year-old filly trot.
Villiam, a gelded son of Rock N Roll Heaven-Village Mirage, had plenty of action unfold in front of him as the top three horses in the wagering – 3-1 Follow Your Heart, even-money Rockin The Gates and 8-5 Rockin The Aces – all battled for supremacy from the quarter to the three-quarters, and that suited driver Tim Tetrick just fine with Villiam in a third-over flow around the far turn.
Rockin The Aces was dead game to the wire after racing uncovered for the final half-mile but got nailed by the smallest of noses at the finish. Follow Your Heart was third. The win payout of $172.60 was the highest of the meeting at the Big M. It was Villiam’s first victory in three lifetime starts for trainer Eric Foster. The time for the mile was 1:53.1.
“I didn’t think about winning at three-quarters, I just wanted to get a good cheque,” said Tetrick. “But those other colts beat themselves up and I picked up the pieces.”
Fortune Starlet ($3.20 to win), a daughter of Trixton-Fortune Dream, had no anxious moments in her dash, grabbing the lead while parked at the half before powering clear of her foes by five lengths in 1:54.3 in winning for the second time in three starts. Caviart Eva finished second but was off stride at the wire and placed fourth behind official second-place finisher Jula Champagne and Spoiled Princess, who was placed third.
“She’s got a beautiful gait and a great attitude,” said winning driver Dexter Dunn of the George Ducharme trainee. “She showed last week (when she won in 1:55.4) what she can do. She’s still learning a little, but she’s got a bright future.”
Before the betting card, two other NJSS Finals were conducted.
Play Trix On Me, a son of Trixton-Lima Playmate, took the two-year-old colt and gelding trot in 1:55.3 for driver Tetrick and trainer Gareth Dowse to stay perfect in four lifetime tries.
Ready Set Rock, a daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven-Popcorn N Peanuts, took the two-year-old filly pace. Driver Andy McCarthy guided the winner to a 1:56.3 score for trainer Michael Hall.
The first leg of the Kindergarten Classic Series for two-year-olds trotters produced winners
Leading driver Yannick Gingras had the hot hand once again, scoring five times on the program -- twice with Per Engblom trainees in a pair of $10,000 Kindergarten Classic two-year-old divisions. Trotting colt Synergy (Father Patrick-Southwind Sauna) took his first leg division in 1:56 and trotting filly Hello Tomorrow (Muscle Hill-Armbro Deja Vu) was victorious in 1:56.3 for the duo.
The other divisions were won by the Tony Alagna-trained filly Ramona Hill (Muscle Hill-Lock Down Lindy) in 1:54.4 with Andrew McCarthy aboard and colt Back Of The Neck (Ready Cash-Big Barb) in 1:56.4 for driver Mattias Melander and trainer Marcus Melander.
A LITTLE MORE: Chalk players cashed plenty of tickets on the card, as eight favourites visited the winner’s circle. … All-source handle on the 14 races totaled $2,682,541. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m. with a stakes-laden 13-race card that features the $682,650 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)