East Rutherford, NJ – Oakwood Ardan IR was in the right spot to provide a dominant performance Saturday (April 18) night at The Meadowlands in the featured $22,500 high-end conditioned pace, and the 2025 William Haughton winner (in a lifetime-best 1:47.3) delivered in a big way in his second start of the year, crushing seven overmatched opponents in 1:50.4.
“He’s not really a front-ender, but the fractions were really fair and he sprinted home hard,” said winning driver Tim Tetrick. “He’s a real nice horse to drive.”
Sent to the gate as the 1-5 favorite, Oakwood Ardan IR, fifth in his seasonal debut a week ago, used some early energy to protect rail position as Wish You Well and Dont Drop The Ball left the gate with intentions of making the lead. Wish You Well hit the quarter in :27.4 as Don’t Drop The Ball opted for the pocket.
Tetrick didn’t wait too long with the chalk, moving Oakwood Ardan IR from the three-hole quickly to the top at the three-eighths before reaching the half on top in :56.2, which would leave plenty in the tank for the Robert Cleary trainee, who is a 7-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou-Trend Setter.
Renaissance Deo was now moving fast and furious on the rim and was within a length of the leader at three-quarters, which went in 1:25.1, but it became clear through the stretch that Oakwood Ardan IR was toying with the field, sprinting home in :25.3 to record a 1-3/4 length win over Wish You Well with Dont Drop The Ball third.
“I’ve watched him and competed against him a lot and everybody that’s sat behind him has always talked well about him,” said Tetrick, who teamed up for the first time with the now-lifetime earner of just a hair less than $400,000. “He held up to the hype.”
Is this a horse who can go with the killers of the older male pacing division?
“He’s always been quick enough,” said Tetrick. “He’s not really a quick speed horse up close. He closes well and everybody sees these days in racing, if you are not up close, you don’t do very well. He’s great and deserves a chance to be in with the top colts. He’s a privilege to drive. Hopefully, we can have some fun together (on the Grand Circuit).”
Oakwood Ardan IR returned $2.60 to win after registering his 23rd victory in 63 lifetime starts. He is owned by Royal Wire Products Inc.
PK 8 SPLIT THREE WAYS: A carryover of $56,244 coaxed punters to pour $9,428 of new money into the $1 PK 8 pool, and after a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 9-5, 4-5, 5-2, 8-5, 6-5, 9-5, 3-5 and 1-5, three winning tickets were exchanged for $21,417.50.
A LITTLE MORE: Jason Bartlett, the 2025 Dan Patch Driver of the Year, led the driver colony with four winners. … Ron Burke led the trainers with a pair of jaunts down victory lane. … Bookie J, the 2025 Kindergarten champion, started his 2026 with an impressive 1:51.2 score for trainer Chris Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn. The 3-year-old gelded son of Perfect Sting-Skyy returned $3.40 as the 3-5 public choice. … All-source betting on the 14-race program totaled $2,830,757. … Racing resumes Friday (April 25) at 6:35 p.m.