Dissed at 23-1, Sir Caviar found late trotting room and blazed by Rembrandt Spur in deep stretch to pull off the shocker in Thursday’s $22,500 Preferred Handicap Trot
at The Meadows.
Sir Caviar won five straight races — none of them in the Preferred — at The Meadows between May 24 and July 10, only to see his streak snapped by a poor performance at Mohawk that had players looking elsewhere. And with Sir Caviar apparently trapped in and Rembrandt Spur, a multiple track record-holder, in gear, the outcome seemed sealed.
But Brian Zendt angled Sir Caviar off the pylons for clearance, and the four-year-old SJs Caviar-Sierra Flower gelding did the rest, downing Rembrandt Spur by a length in a career-best 1:54.2. Master Begonia finished third. Leslie Zendt trains Sir Caviar and owns with Bill Zendt.
The co-featured $22,500 Filly & Mare Preferred Handicap Pace also brought an upset, as 15-1 Palazzo Princess went from worst to first with a pylon-skimming trip for Eric Ledford to notch her third consecutive victory. The four-year-old daughter of Jate Lobell-Hawaiian Exotica scored in 1:52.4, three-quarters of a length better than the rallying Francies Dream. Forever Ivy was third. Paul Kennedy trains Palazzo Princess for Paint Creek Farms.
Elsewhere on the card, Dont Blink captured a conditioned trot in 1:57.2 - the fastest mile this year by a two-year-old trotting filly on a five-eighths-mile track. Dave Palone drove for trainer Kris Rickert and owner Dale Wareham.
Grand Circuit action at The Meadows resumes Friday with three Arden Downs Stakes: the Catherine Baker Knoll for freshman filly pacers; the Ned McCarr for three-year-old trotting fillies, and the James Manderino for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters. A total of $228,486 will be up for grabs over eight stakes divisions.
(The Meadows)