from Meadowlands Media Relations

East Rutherford, NJ — The four-legged Rumsfeld had the strategy and the firepower to win the $71,035 Super Bowl Final on Tuesday night at the Meadowlands.

John Campbell sent the four-year-old trotter three-wide on the final turn, taking the lead in the final strides for a three-quarter length victory in a stakes record time of 1:56 flat.

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Rumsfeld won the $71,035 Super Bowl Final on Tuesday night at the Meadowlands in a stakes record time of 1:56.

Rumsfeld ($14.40, $8.00, $5.40) now has two wins in two starts this year. Grain Of Truth ($6.00, $5.20) was second best, edging out the hard-closing Lhasa Muscles ($3.80).

“We bought this horse for $55,000 as a yearling, and as a two and three-year-old he would make breaks for no reason,” said trainer Paul Buer. “We brought him to Du Quoin (in September) for the World Trotting Derby, and he collapsed in the paddock. We brought him to the Hagyard Clinic in Kentucky. He had a lot of fluids that they drained. He was in bad shape. We gave him some time off. He seems like he straightened himself out.”

The son of Valley Victory – Old Cape Cod, who shares his name with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, made his return to the races in mid-December and won an opening round leg of the Super Bowl on January 11. He now has three wins in 10 career starts. ith the $35,517.50 winner’s share of the Super Bowl Final, the trotter has career earnings of more than $45,000.

“It looks like we’ll go in a few overnights, and we might make him eligible to a few of the series,” Buer noted. “Antoinette Nigito (Joie De Vie Farm of Jobstown, New Jersey) is a game owner and more active than ever. She’s trying to get the right horse. She deserves it.”