East Rutherford NJ — Some Chapter continued his impressive season by winning for the 10th time from just 14 starts in the Friday night (Dec. 18) feature at The Meadowlands, a high-end $20,000 conditioned trot.

Some Chapter and driver Dexter Dunn are clear of the field at the finish of the Friday night feature at The Meadowlands. Lisa photo.

But the road to the winner’s circle at the mile oval has been a circuitous one to say the least for the Anette Lorentzon trainee, who did not race last year as a 2-year-old.

“We always liked him,” said Lorentzon. “But he had some soreness last year, so we turned him out in April. We gave him some time, brought him back at the end of last year and things started out well, but he ended up locking on a line, so we gave him some time off again. He could get lame on us, but we could not find out what was wrong with him.”

Lorentzon would have to wait until this summer to find out what she had in the 3-year-old gelded son of Chapter Seven-Some Kinda Special.

“He actually had never seen a racetrack until he went to the fairs in June,” said Lorentzon, whose prized pupil would win his first three outings on the Kentucky Fair circuit at Lebanon in 2:05, 2:08 and 2:02.3, respectively. “He had never even been in a qualifier. We’ve always babied him. He always showed talent and a great attitude.”

Lorentzon’s patience certainly seems to be paying off. Some Chapter cleared to the top before the three-eighths with driver Dexter Dunn Friday night on the way to an easy 2-3/4 length score over Swan In Motion in 1:54.1. McMatters was third.

Owned by ACL Stuteri AB and Kjell Johansson, Some Chapter, who now has lifetime earnings of $75,345, returned $3.60 as the 4-5 public choice in taking a second straight start at The Big M.

“He still qualifies for non-winners of six and eight,” said Lorentzon. “And I believe he can go with some of the better trotters at The Meadowlands. I’m hoping, at least. He’s still learning.”

GET LEGS GOT GAME: Another trotter opening some eyes was the Julie Miller-trained, Andy Miller-driven 3-year-old colt Get Legs (Muscle Hill-Legzy), who remained unbeaten in four lifetime outings after taking a non-winners of four in 1:54.1 as the 3-5 public choice. Like Some Chapter, Get Legs was unraced at 2 and has looked superb since his debut on Nov. 13. All of his starts have come at The Big M.

FAMILY MATTERS: Todd McCarthy and his older brother Andrew finished 1-2 three times on the night, making exacta bettors very happy. The Brothers McCarthy exactas paid $167.60 (third race), $246.40 (fourth) and $12.40 (12th).
Trainers Brett Derue and his mother-in-law Jackie Greene finished 1-2 in the fifth, with that exacta coming back $195.40.

A LITTLE MORE: Todd McCarthy guided two longshots to victory lane during the sequence, leading to a single-ticket winner in the 20-cent Pick-5 that paid $43,916. … Dunn and Todd McCarthy both won three on the card, as the top two in the Fall Meet driver standings upped their respective win totals to 46 and 40. … All-source wagering totaled $2,196,781. … Racing resumes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.