Saturday night at the Meadowlands offered perfect weather with comfortable temperatures and just a hint of an eastern breeze as the sophomore filly trotters competed in the $47,915 W.N. Reynolds Memorial Grand Circuit stakes.
The early 6:50 p.m. start was made necessary by the entry of just a quartet when the race was drawn on Tuesday, resulting in the non-wagering format.
Were it a wagering contest, Take The Money would have been a heavy favourite and she delivered like one, taking the big share after leading all the way in 1:55.3. Bikini So Teeny tracked the winner throughout and although she menaced late for Charlie Norris, she could not go by in the :27.2 final quarter.
Take The Money is owned by Barry Guarligia’s Black Horse Racing and the winner’s share put her past $160,000 in earnings for the season. Julie Miller is the conditioner and Marcus Miller had the assignment for this one.
On the body of the wagering card were a pair of 11 colt divisions of the Reynolds going forth as races two and 12 with a purse of $32,207 offered for each.
Nuncio played the lead role in the first division getting his final tune-up for the August 2 Hambletonian and he did not disappoint. Nuncio was put into play early from post seven by John Campbell and cleared quickly to the lead before yielding to Resolve and Corey Callahan for a few steps past the :27.2 quarter. Back to the front on the re-move, Campbell rated Nuncio kindly then kicked home in :27.3 to reduce his career-best to 1:51.4.
Resolve raced very well and was gaining on the unthreatened winner to be beaten less than a length for new connections, owner Hans Enggren and trainer Nancy Johansson. Amped Up Hanover was third throughout and held his position for the Burke barn.
Nuncio is trained by Jimmy Takter for international connections, Stall TZ. Takter said good things about the colt, who would be the Hambo favourite in many other years, in his post-race interview.
The 12th race featured another Takter Hambo hopeful, the enigmatic Trixton. He’s developed into a classic horse for Takter this summer and tonight the trainer pulled the front shoes and added blinkers in an attempt to squeeze another tick or two out of the colt and close the gap on Hambletonian favourite Father Patrick.
The race began with a quick start by Muscle Midas from the outside and he cleared the lead well before the :27.2 quarter. Takter edged Trixton to the outside and claimed the top, gradually widening the margin through the :27.1 final quarter to end the 1:51.4 mile. Datsyuk closed to be second with Lightning Force third.
Post-race Takter spoke of the evolution of Trixton and the upcoming Hambletonian.
“I liked to try him without shoes, it’s more natural," he said. "He’ll get a few days to recover then some light work going into the race. I feel we’ll really see how great he is in the future years.”
The driving star of the night was John Campbell, who won a half dozen races.
Total handle was up 10 per cent over a year ago at $2,658,445 and the live handle in the building on Meadowlands races reflected a 12 per cent increase over 2013 numbers.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)