Last Comment: March 4, 2021 9:18 am ET | 1 Comment(s) | Jump to Comments
A pair of new names have entered the most horses in the 2021 editions of the MGM Borgata and Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, to be contested at Yonkers Raceway throughout March and April. Both newcomers to the North American stakes scene, trainer Shane Tritton has seven horses between the two events and Neil Balcerak has five in the Borgata.
A total of 46 horses nominated for the 2021 Borgata (née Levy) and 20 were made eligible to the Matchmaker. Both events were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With four in the Borgata and three in the Matchmaker, Down Under native Tritton is feeling good about his chances and excited about his first stakes action since arriving in the U.S. less than a year ago.
A pair of fan favourites sat atop the marquee in the co-featured $22,500 winners-over $11,500 events on Saturday (Feb. 13) at The Meadowlands, one on the pace and the other on the trot.
Tulhurstsantanna A worked an ideal trip in pulling off a 21-1 upset in the pace. The driver of the eight-year-old gelded son of Santanna Blue Chip-Ballroom Belle had designs on leaving the gate, but Andy McCarthy thought better of it.
“I put his nose on the gate and thought about stepping out,” said McCarthy. “But I aborted that mission when I saw everybody else had the same idea and managed to work out a sweet second-over trip.”
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Fan-favourite JL Cruze came back to his favourite track and took the featured $22,500 high-end conditioned trot in impressive fashion on Saturday (Jan. 30) at The Meadowlands.
The Eric Ell trainee rebounded off a sixth-place finish in the Open Handicap at Dover Downs 18 days ago with a crisp performance to get back into the win column for a second-consecutive start at The Big M , hitting the wire in 1:54.4 on a night where the real-feel temperature was 19 degrees.
A 10-year-old gelded son of Crazed-Topcat Hall, driver Dexter Dunn guided JL Cruze away quickly from the rail in the nine-horse field with designs on sitting right in behind speed-burner Warrior One.
The Meadowlands faithful was out in force with Christmas money in hand Saturday night, and at the conclusion of the 15-race card, all-source wagering topped the $3-million mark for the first time during the Fall Meeting on the last day of racing in 2020.
Handle for the night totaled $3,718,250, an average per race of $247,883. The last time–other than Hambletonian Day and Meadowlands Pace Night–that business was as brisk on a per-race basis was on July 11 (Meadowlands Pace Eliminations Night) when a total of $3,440,248 was bet over 13 races, an average of $264,634 per dash.
Things got rolling in the fifth race Saturday, when a night-best $366,063 was pushed through the windows with $117,910 in exacta action leading the way. Minutes later, $85,859 in 50-cent Pick-4 plays keyed total betting in Race 6 to $353,837. Race 8–which saw an exacta pool of $98,671–was the third $300,000 or better race of the night, with total action of $302,405.