by Gabe Prewitt, for The Meadowlands
East Rutherford, NJ — Driver David Miller didn’t get to celebrate his win aboard Fear The Dragon in the $400,000 Adios on Saturday afternoon for long, as he was back to work on Saturday night (July 29) with a full slate at The Meadowlands. Luckily for him, the good day continued, as he piloted What The Hill to a gate-to-wire victory in the $49,580 Reynolds Memorial.
What The Hill darted right to the top from post seven in the big field of 11, with his stablemate Southwind Cobra (Yannick Gingras) coming away on his back from post one. Those two continued sitting one-two through reasonable splits of :28.2, :56.2, and 1:24.2, and looked poised for a Burke barn battle down the lane, but Southwind Cobra jumped it off stride when angling to the outside at the top of the stretch.
What The Hill would inherit a 3-1/2 length lead after the break in stride of Southwind Cobra, and he had plenty left to coast home in :27.4 to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:52.1, in a race that was closer on paper than in reality. Yes Mickey (Ake Svanstedt) had to negotiate heavy traffic from the second tier post 11, and rallied up to finish second, narrowly besting 6-5 favorite Bill’s Man who was first-over and held third.
What The Hill now has four wins in six seasonal tries, for the ownership group of Burke Racing Stable, Our Horse Cents Stables, J&T Silva Stables, and Deo Volente Farms.
Giveitgasandgo Picks Up Win
What The Hill wasn’t the only 3-year old trotting colt with an impressive Hambletonian tuneup, as Giveitgasandgo (Corey Callahan) parlayed a perfect pocket trip to edge by Jake (Daniel Dube) to win in 1:52.1 earlier on the card in a $15,000 trot earlier on the card. The winner, a ridgling by Yankee Glide, was adding Lasix for the first time, but the medication is not permitted for use in the Hambletonian by rule.
Jackpot Super High-5 pays $1,306.34
The mandatory payout of the last race jackpot super high 5 returned $1,306.34 after attracting a total pool of $171,449.
Total handle on the 12-race card was $2,570,369.
- Trio of tracks to host Grand Circuit action this week (Wednesday, July 26, 2017)
Grand Circuit action kicks off this Friday (July 28) at Plainridge Park with the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot for older trotters.
- Hambo Oaks heads up Saturday Meadowlands card (Friday, July 28, 2017)
A pair of eliminations for the Hambletonian Oaks heads up a dynamite Saturday night (July 29) card at The Meadowlands.