East Rutherford, NJ – Off a grinding return-to-form effort in defeat in the last preliminary, driver Dexter Dunn took authority with Sabonis for a slam-dunk 1:47.3 victory in the $230,000 Stan Bergstein Graduate Series Pace on Saturday night (July 5) at The Meadowlands.
Sabonis pushed from post 2 and landed third in the early firing line with Vandlemen Bluechip leading by a nose over Captain Luke through a :26.1 first quarter. Dunn then vacated his seat at the cones and brushed towards the top – with Nijinsky and Captain Albano following suit – entering the backstretch.
While Sabonis easily crossed and cleared the lead before a :54 half, Nijinsky struggled to push past when first over into the far turn. Sabonis stayed on the muscle while pressed by Nijinsky to three-quarters in 1:21.2 and shrugged away that rival spinning for home.
Captain Luke became the main threat in the stretch with a furious rally through an inside seam off the pocket trip, but Dunn kept Sabonis to task in the final-quarter sprint to stave off that charge by three-quarter lengths. Nijinsky held third from Captain Albano, who tipped wide from his second-over trip to take fourth.
“I was happy to let Nijinsky to go,” winning driver Dexter Dunn said, “but he just couldn’t quite get around me and my fellow was travelling so strongly at the time. Once he fought off Nijinsky and I asked him to speed at the top of the straight, he knuckled down good.”
Diamond Creek Racing acquired Sabonis from previous owner Pat Miller and trainer Aaron Stutzman – off a sophomore campaign with 16 wins from 18 starts – before the 2025 season, but the 4-year-old stallion by Tellitlikeitis-Gypsy Bellevue floundered in his first two starts. Both driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Brett Pelling said some equipment changes got the stallion back in the right direction.
“The one race he disappointed everyone there [on June 13th], he went three high on the turn, got hung up on the head pole… I was concerned, but Dexter said he was good,” Brett Pelling said. “We just needed to let him run in a little bit, let him do his thing and we’ll be fine. So we just put the equipment on a little differently and he’s gone forward ever since.”
Diamond Creek Racing shares ownership of Sabonis, an 18-time winner with $621,750 in earnings, with Pelling Racing LLC. He paid $11.60 to win.
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PACE PREP: With only 10 horses having dropped into the entry box for the Meadowlands Pace, there was no need for eliminations, so The Big M carded a 3-year-old Open, aka the Meadowlands Pace Prep.
Papis Pistol (Papi Rob Hanover-Bang Bang), off a qualifier in which he was an uninspiring fourth coming back sick, charged up the inside to gun down 4-5 favorite Captain Optimistic in 1:49.1.
“I didn’t know how he would race, but I knew he was feeling good,” said winning trainer Sam DePinto about his student who was on antibiotics after the qualifier. “He showed he was OK.”
For the prep, Papis Pistol had a new pilot. “Dave’s [Miller] a great driver, and the owners and the partnership wanted a Hall of Famer. I was a little nervous coming into the race but he beat some good horses tonight. [His versatility] It’s huge. When you win the Meadowlands Pace, you’re pretty much set for the rest of the year.”
Manolete raced from the rear in the field of six and rallied well along the inside to get second over Captain Optimistic in what was a good-looking tightener for next week’s $656,000 Pace.
A LITTLE MORE: Scott Zeron drove the winners of both ends of the Early Daily Double (paying $39.60) and Jordan Stratton swept the Late Double ($46.20). They led the driver colony with two winners apiece. … All-source handle on the abbreviated 10-race program totaled $2,479,707. … Racing resumes Friday (July 11) at 6:20 p.m.