Atlanta, Fiftydallarbill strong in the Graduate at The Meadowlands

East Rutherford, NJ — Atlanta and Fiftydallarbill were the impressive winners of the fourth and final leg of the Graduate Series for 4-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Friday night (June 21). The finals for both pacers and trotters take place on July 6 at the Big M.

Hambletonian champion Atlanta proved to be the best in Graduate action at The Meadowlands. Lisa Photo.

Atlanta, the 2018 Hambletonian winner who trotted the fastest mile in Canadian harness racing history a week ago with a 1:50.2 clocking in the Armbro Flight, opted to come from off the pace in her Graduate division.

The daughter of Chapter Seven-Hemi Blue Chip picked up live cover from Muscle M Up down the backstretch after racing seventh and last to the opening quarter, tipped with an eighth of a mile to go, and stormed past the field to score by 1-1/4 lengths over a fast-closing Plunge Blue Chip. Crystal Fashion was third.

“I kind of wanted to race her off a helmet tonight,” said winning driver Yannick Gingras. “I wanted to see what she would do. I was confident. There was never an anxious moment.”

Atlanta, who is trained by Ron Burke, trotted the mile in 1:50.4 and returned $2.40 to her backers as the 1-5 public choice while staying perfect in five 2019 starts.

Fiftydallarbill worked out a perfect trip to win the Graduate at The Meadowlands. Lisa Photo

In the other Graduate division, Fiftydallarbill worked out a perfect pocket trip behind even-money favorite Six Pack and charged by his rival nearing the wire to record a neck victory. Phaetosive was third.

Driver Corey Callahan likely won the race during the initial quarter, extending Six Pack through an opening split of :27.4. “I was trying to make him work a little bit into that first turn,” said Callahan.

In mid-stretch, Callahan tipped the son of Swan For All-CR Dixie Chick out of the pocket with an eighth to go and wore down Six Pack to record his 18th-lifetime win in 42 starts.  

“I thought we were going to get by,” said Callahan, who was fortunate to pick up this drive. “I really lucked out. He’s gone through a couple of drivers but I really didn’t have a horse for this class, so it worked out well for me.”

Fiftydallarbill paid $8.00 as the second choice in the wagering for trainer Katricia Adams. His final clocking of 1:50.2 equaled Greenshoe (May 31) and Atlanta (last Saturday) for the fastest trotting mile of the year in the spot.

A LITTLE MORE: Caviart Ally was no doubt glad to not have to face Shartin N (whom she went up against in each of her last three starts) and took it out on her foes in the third leg of the Rainbow Blue Series, stopping the clock in a lifetime-best equaling 1:48.3 while 1-3/4 lengths in front of Apple Bottom Jeans. The Brett Pelling trainee, who was driven by Andy McCarthy, returned $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite. … Speaking of favorites, eight visited victory lane during the course of the 13-race card. … One sharp player wagering into the Twin Spires hub had the only ticket to survive six legs of the 20-Cent Survivor Pick-10 and walked away with $8,960. … The fifth race 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five did not result in a single-ticket winner, bloating the carryover to $115,221. … All-source wagering totaled $2,337,789. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

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