from the USTA Communications Department

2012 U.S. Pacing Championship — Golden Receiver from USTA on Vimeo.

East Rutherford, NJ — Golden Receiver and driver Andy Miller protected tha rail and were never caught in the $242,500 US Pacing Championship on Saturday at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Miller and the 7-year-old Village Jove gelding put up splits of :26.2, :54.1 and 1:21.1 before reaching the wire in a time of 1:48, equaling his lifetime mark. Aracache Hanover was second and Meirs Hanover finished third.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Golden Receiver (right) was a wire-to-wire winner in the US Pacing Championship.

The victory was the 11th in 18 season’s starts for Golden Receiver, lifting his 2012 bankroll past the $500,000 mark. Trained by Mark Harder, Golden Receiver is owned by Stable 45, Richard Taylor, Stephen Springer and Nina Simmonds.

Driver Andy Miller said he had no thought of letting anybody go early.

“Not really. If they didn’t loop me off the gate, they weren’t getting around me.

“I just wanted to give my horse a little breather there (to the three-quarters) and he was coming kind of easy. We were just pacing together there until the top of the lane. They keep coming, but he keeps digging, too.

“Mark’s done a great job of keeping him around and keeping him sharp.”