Washington, PA — True Blue Lindy made a splashy U.S. debut Friday (Aug. 27) at The Meadows, when he controlled the fractions and dug in late to capture the Tyler B, a $159,745 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for freshman pacing colts and geldings.

True Blue Lindy held off the late charge of the promising Birthday to win his U.S. debut, Friday’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for rookie pacers at The Meadows. Chris Gooden photo.

It isn’t clear if True Blue Lindy earned enough points to qualify for the championship — The Meadows will host all four $250,000 PASS finals for 2-year-olds next Friday (Sept. 3) — but winning trainer Jeff Cullipher indicated the Always B Miki-Think Pink gelding will be at The Meadows that date for the championship or the $50,000 consolation.

True Blue Lindy was a budding star in Canada, where he performed exclusively at Woodbine Mohawk Park. In five starts there, he captured he Dream Maker Series final, earned a mark of 1:51.2 and never was worse than second.

When he was purchased privately about 10 days ago by Cullipher and Tom Pollack of Pollack Racing LLC, the big outstanding question was: could he adjust to the five-eighths-mile tracks in Pennsylvania when he was accustomed to the seventh-eighths-mile Woodbine Mohawk oval?

He answered that question emphatically in the Tyler B as he and winning driver Tim Tetrick protected rail position and forged to the front. When Tetrick gave him a :29 second-quarter breather, that was all he needed to turn back the late Lightning Lane threat of Birthday and down him by a head in 1:51.3. JM’S Final Treasure finished third.

Cullipher said True Blue Lindy is every bit the horse he and Pollack thought they acquired:

“We got our picture taken,” Cullipher said. “Timmy said as soon as the horse got where he could see the closers, he took back off again. He’ll probably be better off a helmet.”

Pollack was particularly pleased with the winner’s staying power.

“His fractions were good, but he’s a big horse and not a sprinter,” Pollack said. “It was great to see him show heart late.”

$40,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series — 2-Year-old Colt and Gelding Pace

On paper, the first division of Friday’s sub-feature looked like a walkover for Captain Cowboy, who had won all three previous Stallion Series splits and had nary a stain on is lines. But when he broke stride early and needed to expend considerable energy to recover and retake the lead, it changed the thinking of Mike Wilder aboard Good Deal.

“That horse kind of stuck out in the race, but he really had to do a lot of extra work after the break,” Wilder said. “I thought if I could ever beat him, I’d take my shot there. Good things have to happen to win races, but that being said, my colt raced really well.

Indeed, Good Deal blew by the exhausted Captain Cowboy in mid-stretch, then held off the rallying Code Cracker to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.2. PJ Lou completed the ticket. Ron Burke trains Good Deal, a Sweet Lou-Cut A Deal gelding, for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby.

Hecandancencruise took the other split for David Miller, trainer Mark Harder, and owners Philip and Dana Steinberg.

Live racing at The Meadows continues Saturday (Aug. 28), when the 12-race program features a pair of rich carryovers: $41,886.48 in the final-race Super Hi-5, $4,870.81 in the Pick-5 (races 7-11). First post is 12:45 p.m.