Manofmanymissions Rebounds; Haughton Field Set

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Published: August 13, 2011 10:35 pm EDT

Three-year-old trotting colt Manofmanymissions overcame the outside Post 10 to score a record-setting 1:52.1 victory in his $175,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Championship at the Meadowlands Racetrack, which was part of a $700,000 Night of Champions for state breds

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With Andy Miller driving, the son of Yankee Glide, who was the favourite to win the $1.5 million Hambeltonian last weekend, took the lead just past the quarter-mile pole and kept his rivals at bay to win by a length and a quarter over Whit, who previously held the record for New Jersey-sired three-year-old trotting colts with a 1:52.4 clocking in a preliminary leg of the NJSS series. Charlie De Vie finished third with the Canadian-owned Whiskey Tax, a runner-up in the Hambletonian, fourth.

"He’s just a week late," said Miller, noting that the horse had a rough trip in the Hambletonian when he broke stride in the stretch and finished eighth. "When I left the gate he felt good. I thought he was the best in here so I decided to go. He was right up on his game tonight and when I asked him to go he took off. He just felt like he was ready to race. He’s definitely as quick as any of them, he’s just got to get his act together."

Manofmanymissions is trained by Erv Miller and owned by Manofmanymissions Stable, Mystical Marker Farms and M. Biasuzzi Stable. His 1:52.1 clocking matched the season's leader mark he set on July 16 winning the $166,000 Stanley Dancer Trot at the Meadowlands. The winner's share of the purse boosted his 2011 earnings to $222,000 and his career purse money to $655,900. The colt, bred by Kentuckianna Farms, has now won four of seven starts this year and eight of 13 in his career.

On a track list as "good" after rain, High Noon paced to the lead at the quarter-mile pole for driver Ron Pierce and held on to win the final for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings in 1:50.4 over a quick-closing Rockem. Lookinforadventure finished third with first over challenger Shadyshark Hanover fourth.

"I didn’t see Big Jim break. I was wondering where he was and I thought for sure he’d be coming but he never showed up," said Pierce of the favourite, who finished eighth. "I was just trying to get away from him [Shadyshark Hanover]. My horse seems to be getting better and better every week."

It was a lifetime mark for the gelding, who has now won two of 13 races this year, with five second-place finishes. Jimmy Takter trains the son of Western Ideal for Toronto's John Fielding, who shares ownership with Christina Takter, Falkbolagen Ab and Riverview Farms.

In the three-year-old pacing filly championship, heavily favoured Krispy Apple, at 3-5, took the lead after the quarter-mile mark and held it until the stretch, when Myluvmylife closed rapidly to win in 1:50.4 by a length over Pretty Katherine. Krispy Apple held on for third.

Myluvmylife, a homebred owned by Dreamland Farms, was trained by Joe King for her career-best mile. She now has earned $153,443 this year and $298,263 for her career.

"She’s impressed me in both starts," commented Sears, who has drove the daughter of Rocknroll Hanover in the Mistletoe Shalee prep race and the final prior to tonight's win. "We had a terrible trip on Hambletonian day but I knew she was good enough to win. I waited and the trip set up the way I needed it to and it’s just great to do good for Joe [King]. He’s one of the good guys in the sport and I’m really happy to win a race like this for him.

"I sat third at the rail at the top of the stretch," he continued. "I was following two of the better horses but I was able to slide out and opened up. I knew she’d have plenty of kick coming home because she’s had it in the last couple starts."

King indicated that Myluvmylife is heavily staked in her sophomore campaign.

"She’s a really nice filly," he said. "She’s a homebred and has been good as a two-year-old and now a three-year-old. She’s had some tough luck with post positions. Other than that, she’s always given it all she’s got. It’s very special when Dreamland breeds there own."

In another upset, Tui, driven by Tim Tetrick, out-trotted the even-money favourite Hey Mister to win the NJSS title for sophomore trotting fillies. Wincinatti finished third. Tui took the lead at the half-mile marker and held on for the 1:54.3 victory, a lifetime-best clocking among her seven wins in 14 races this year.

"For some reason in the turn she gets to locking in sometimes, especially when she’s going into the turn with speed," said Tetrick. "She works through it though so that’s all that matters. I used a big move to get by on the front. I get by some of the better horses and it worked out for me. My horse raced tough all the way to the wire."

Donald Wiest trains the Windsongs Legacy filly, who more than doubled her career earnings to $162,613 with the win, for co-owner Edward Kimmel.

"She really surprised me," commented Wiest. "We bought her at Harrisburg as a weanling and we bought her to race another. I only had one at home. She turned out to be something special, as you can see on the program. I thought she’d be alright to put in the NJSS and I wasn’t wrong."

We Will See rallied from the far outside to win the first of two $50,000 eliminations for the William R. Haughton Memorial also held on Saturday night at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Driven by Ron Pierce, We Will See closed from seventh to stop the leader, Alexie Mattosie, by three-quarters of a length in 1:48.3. Foiled Again finished third, while Aracache Hanover (fourth) and Ideal Matters (fifth) also advanced to the $523,000 William R. Haughton final on Saturday, August 20.

"We didn't get away from the gate very good," Pierce said. "We ended up picking up some bad cover. As we passed the half, we were just following along and minding our own business then somebody up front came out and just stopped. It was like an accordion effect and we all just kind of crunched together. I think it ticked my horse off a little bit. He got mad because I had to grab him so hard and he picked up the bit.

"I still felt good though and I knew I was going to get pushed wide if I started to come with him," Pierce continued. "I figured he could overcome it so I let him go and he just paced hard to the wire. He came: 27 on the end of it and he was about five wide. He's on his game as much as any horse I've ever driven. There's no question this was the better of the two eliminations. This race tonight was the final."

We Will See, trained by Sam DePinto, improved his record to eight wins in 16 starts this season with the victory. The razor sharp son of Western Hanover captured the $500,000 Ben Franklin on July 3 at Harrah's Chester and a $174,250 U.S. Pacing Championship division at the Meadowlands on August 6. Owned by Shannon DePinto, Earl Smith and Jerry Silva, We Will See is a career winner of nearly $1.5 million.

In his 100th career start, Won The West thundered down the center of the track to capture the second Haughton elim in 1:49. One More Laugh shot up the pylons late to finish second, while Hypnotic Blue Chip was third. Pacesetter Vintage Master (fourth) and Giddy Up Lucky (fifth) also earned spots in next week's final.

David Miller steered the 2010 O'Brien Award winner and two-time Dan Patch Award winner to his third win in 10 starts this season and 36th overall. Ron Burke trains the winner of $3.6 million for the Ohio connections of Country Club Acres Inc, Strollin Stable and William Robinson.

"He had a rough go of it tonight, but he got the job done," David Miller said. "He's still as strong as he was last year. He's just been having bad racing luck."

(With files from NJSS & Meadowlands Racetrack)

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