Following a gritty 1:49.3 triumph in last week's $25,000 Open Pace, Henderson Farms' Bushwacker will be seeking his third straight top-level victory at the Meadowlands Racetrack this Saturday. If he is able to get the job done, the win will mark his fifth from his last six starts.
Tim Tetrick drives the five-year-old Rocknroll Hanover gelding that has been assigned the outside post in the featured six-horse field.
After having pounced from the pocket on January 2, Bushwacker used a first-over bid on the far turn to grind past Doctor Butch and subsequently opened up and prevailed by two and a quarter lengths. The Chris Ryder trainee has been installed as the 3-2 morning line favourite in the $25,000 Open Handicap, which has been carded as Race 2 on the 14-dash card.
In addition to Doctor Butch (Post 5, John Campbell) – the Linda Toscano-trained millionaire who was handed defeat in consecutive starts – Bushwacker will cross paths again with Ron Burke trainee Atta Boy Dan (Post 4, Yannick Gingras). The seven-year-old son of Western Terror ships in from Dover Downs, where he narrowly held sway from Bushwacker in an Open/Preferred Handicap on December 28.
A sub-featured $16,000 upper-level conditioned pace (carded as Race 13) will nearly bookend the card with the Open. Burke trainee Bettor Than You will start from the outside Post 7 as the 2-1 morning line choice. He won at this level two weeks ago in pillar-to-post fashion after chasing to hold fourth in last week's Open. Yannick Gingras drives the 13-time winner. A pair of other pacers proven at this level will line up to his immediate inside, as Ashleys Husband (Post 5, Tim Tetrick) likewise steps down from the Open ranks, and Mr Franklin N (Post 6, Joe Bongiorno) seeks consecutive wins at this level.
Between the pair of featured events, $105,000 in guaranteed pools awaits punters in a Pick 5 (starting in Race 3) and a pair of Pick 4s (starting in Races 5 and 9). Additionally, the twin Jackpot High 5s (carded in Races 7 and 14) yield just in excess of $60,000 in carryover money heading into this week's races.
Post time for the Saturday program at the Meadowlands is 6:35 p.m. (EST).
(Maeadowlands)