East Rutherford, NJ — Sonofanutcracker benefited from an expert steer from a driver with plenty on his resume to take the featured $14,500 high-end conditioned pace at The Meadowlands Saturday (Oct. 18) night.
Fifty-six-year-old veteran pilot Daniel Dube recorded his 10,000th career victory Friday (Oct. 17) night at Yonkers Raceway with Crown Monarch, and upped that total to 10,001 after guiding the Tom Cancelliere trainee to victory lane in a lifetime-best 1:51. It was the first time Dube and Sonofanutcracker teamed up.
Big Ego (Mark Hershberger) was away quickly from post eight in the 10-horse field and put some pace on the race, hitting the quarter in :26.2 and the half in :53.3. Dube moved Sonofanutcracker (post one) out of the three-hole after the half and went after the leader racing on the rim uncovered, moving past that tiring foe while reaching three-quarters in 1:23.
The eventual winner now had good momentum for the stretch drive, so late rallies from Corvette Stingray (Lauren Tritton) and Bookie J (Brett Beckwith), who finished second and third, respectively, came up short as Sonofanutcracker registered his third victory from just six starts by 1-1/2 lengths.
“They were going pretty fast,” said Dube. “After that :53[.3] half, I came to them and he swelled up and won easily. For a 2-year-old, [1]:51 is very good. [Through the stretch] When I asked him to do the work, he did it, and it was perfect.”
The 2-year-old son of Nutcracker Sweet-Rob Them Blind is owned by John Cancelliere. The New Jersey Sire Stakes champion now has lifetime earnings of just over $141,000, and as the even-money favorite, returned $4 to his backers.
DOUBLE CARRYOVER: A carryover of $3,813 motivated players to pump $11,472 of “new money” into the 20-cent Pick-6 pool, but after a sequence that saw no winning favorites, there were no winning tickets sold once again, creating a double carryover of $11,126 for Friday night’s card.
Those who had four correct Saturday night cashed in for $270.88.
A LITTLE MORE: Braxten Boyd led the driver colony with three winners on the card. … There were a couple of smiling faces at the conclusion of the 50-cent Late Pick-4, as after a sequence that saw winners go off at odds of 11-1, 5-1, 19-1 and 10-1, the payoff was a glamorous $24,334.35. … 23-year-old Western Australia native Kyle Symington guided his first-ever winner in North America when he clicked with Stay Grounded ($14.40 to win) in the 14th race for trainer Noel Daley. … All-source handle on the 15-race program totaled $2,422,415. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.