After grabbing the early lead and being shuffled to fifth, Rock Candy found wide racing room through the lane to pull off an 8-1 upset in Friday’s feature (Sept. 4) at The Meadows, a $17,900 Open Handicap Pace.
Things appeared hopeless for the locked-in Rock Candy before Brady Brown angled him to the far outside in mid-stretch. The four-year-old Pet Rock-Cotton Candy gelding surged late to edge Prince Of Tides by a half length in 1:51.1, with Carolina Beach third.
Paul Corey trains Rock Candy, who lifted his lifetime bankroll to $399,836, for Kenneth Ashba.
Dave Palone, harness racing’s all-time “winningest” driver, padded his margin a bit when he captured seven of the card’s 13 races. Three of those victories were for trainer Kevin Johnson.
Live racing at The Meadows resumes with a special Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 7) card that features eight $40,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series finals as well as a trio of rich wagering opportunities: a $9,734.02 carryover in the final-race Super Hi-5; a $5,000 total-pool guarantee for the Early Pick-4 (race three); and a $710.01 carryover in the Early Pick-5 (race two). First post is 12:45 p.m.
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)