One of the most anticipated battles of Saturday afternoon’s card at The Meadowlands was the $285,362 Cane Pace – a race that featured the high-profile duo of Captain Crunch and Bettors Wish.
Captain Crunch wins the 2019 Cane Pace. (Lisa Photo)
Little separated the two on the toteboard, and not much separated the talented Glamour Boys at the finish line in the rich contest.
Bettors Wish shot to the lead for Dexter Dunn while Captain Crunch with driver Scott Zeron grabbed the pocket trip. Bettors Wish sailed through fractions of :26.2, :54.4 and 1:22 before Captain Crunch angled out of the two-hole and went on the attack.
Both colts dug in down the lane and gave everything they had, but in the end – it was the tripped-out Captain Crunch who got the better of Bettors Wish in a time of 1:48. Bettors Wish was a bang-up second, with Semi Tough taking home the show dough.
Captain Crunch, who hangs his harness bag in the barn of trainer Nancy Johansson, won for the fifth time this season from seven attempts. The 11-time winner pushed his lifetime earnings to $1,408,522 with the victory for the partnership of the 3 Brothers Stables, Christina Takter, Rojan Stables and Caviart Farms.
"He's a good colt," said trainer Nancy Johansson. "He gives a 110 per cent effort every time he races and he leaves it out on the track for us every time.
"I think we're going to have to have a little bit of a discussion where we're going to go from here with him," she added. "He has a few options and we've got to pick the best one for the end of the year for him."
Check out all the happenings from 2019 Hambletonian Day at The Meadowlands in the 2019 Hambletonian Day News Centre