McCusker capitalized off the hot early pace to earn his first career win in the $328,767 New Jersey Sire Stakes (NJSS) final for two-year-old pacing colts contested as a non-wagering race after the Thursday morning, Aug. 22 qualifying session at The Meadowlands.
The race was originally scheduled for the Friday, Aug. 2 card that was cut short due to intense thunderstorms and a power outage.
The field of 10 freshmen returned to the Big M for their Sire Stakes showdown under sunny skies before noon on Thursday and they were ready to rumble. Tom Horn (David Miller) fired first from the midfield and worked his way to the top over insider Smooth Dream (Joe Bongiorno) through the first turn with Manolete (Todd McCarthy) progessing alongside as they hit the quarter in 27 seconds. Power Code (Dexter Dunn) was hot on his heels and took over once Manolete cleared only to face immediate pressure from Twin Fury (Andrew McCarthy), who remained parked out as the new leader sprinted by the half in :53.4 and turned back that rival to three-quarters in 1:22.
Meanwhile, McCusker had watched the action from seventh early on and driver Scott Zeron tipped him off the rail down the backstretch moving into second-over position. McCusker rallied three-wide at the third quarter mark with Manolete emerging from the pocket off the turn and those two blew by a tiring Power Code in a stretch duel while Tom Horn surged late outside to make it a three-way finish. At the wire, McCusker prevailed by a head over Manolete in 1:51.3 with Tom Horn a half-length back in third.
George Ducharme trains McCusker, a five-time starter whose best showing prior to this race was a third-place finish in the July 12 NJSS leg behind the same top two rivals he beat here.
Owned and bred by Winers Racing Stable of Foxboro, Massachusetts, the son of Cattlewash is the first foal out of the Dragon Again mare, Robocall Hanover, a half sister to world champion Ruthless Hanover.
(Standardbred Canada)