If there was one takeaway from this past Saturday's (11/21) Meadowlands stakes extravaganza for me, it was the very fact that nobody wants to finish second. While exacta players may differ on this assessment, the sight of defending Horse of the Year Shartin N being guided out of the pocket before the three quarter pole was a breath of fresh air. Driver Tim Tetrick, if not for his obvious standing among the elite drivers in the sport, could have been cast as reckless for pulling on the streaking Kissin In The Sand, but in doing so bravely did something few others will attempt. Tetrick defied the odds board and instead took the fight to the favorite, not ceding the title on the basis of respect or past performance. The specter of Tetrick's drive was not lost on Meadowlands commentator Dave Little, who asked winning driver Dexter Dunn following Kissin In The Sand's victory just why he thought Tetrick may have pulled early? That Dunn had to even suggest the possibility of Tetrick's horse being uncomfortable in the pocket was an indication how weird that question probably was to him. It also gave true indication as to what we've come to expect, and in many ways accept, as the normal when watching overnights and even these championship races. Quite often drivers assess their own horses and look to save as much ground as possible and not challenge for the lead. Some horses if asked to go too early in a race may falter and lose any chance of a top-five finish. In the TVG Mares Pace final, Shartin N was the warrior she's been in this division for many years. She took the fight not only to Kissin In The Sand but to her stablemate Peaky Sneaky as well. That those two somehow are sanctioned as "uncoupled" by the New Jersey Racing Commission simply means that said Commission has given up actually watching these races or has chosen that the number of wagering interests in a race is far more important than what passes as integrity. Despite the working-over Shartin N got early from Peaky Sneaky, Tetrick took the punch and countered with a second move to the front. After being "softened up" a bit by Peaky Sneaky, Tetrick didn't relent and just allow Kissin In The Sand easy passage down the backstretch. To his credit, he made the favorite work just enough. That's kind of why I was not really surprised when Shartin N made a third move before the three-quarter pole. Tetrick obviously knew just how good she was in advance of the TVG Mare Pace and wasn't going to turn it into an eighth of a mile sprint. Consider one important factor bettors rarely take into account when viewing the strategy. The presumption that simply because the public made Kissin In The Sand the favorite that she was actually going to be "good" on this night. Shartin N, in foresight or hindsight, was clearly at the top of her game this past Saturday night. For Tetrick to be bold enough to ask the question at head-stretch whether his rival was up to the task was not a mistake but an actual requirement. That the move would fail should carry very little weight just because cold exacta players were frustrated by the decision. The reality is that Tetrick not just owed it to his champion mare to test the waters but owed it to the betting public, those who wagered to win on Shartin N, not to settle for second best. Shartin N finished third in the mile, and in my mind it was one of the best efforts of her career. Kissin In The Sand went out a winner. If exacta players really want to be angry at anyone over the cold-number getting blown up they should take their collective discontent out on the New Jersey Racing Commission, for had Peaky Sneaky and Kissin In The Sand actually been coupled in the wagering that cold number would have come in. JAYWALKING: Two sons of Bettor's Delight officially ended their racing careers over the last two weeks, with Tall Dark Stranger off to Hanover Shoe Farms for his first year in 2021 and Bettor's Wish winning his career finale in rare dominant fashion in the TVG Open Pace final this past Saturday, before embarking on his second year at stud and a likely full book at Diamond Creek Farm. The two never met on the racetrack and we're going to have to wait a number of years to compare them as stallions, but that could be a very interesting battle when it finally comes to fruition. If ever there was a David vs Goliath matchup in the making it has to be Bettor's Wish and Tall Dark Stranger. The former was a $20,000 yearling purchase and the latter a $330,000 buy. Bettor's Wish had a good 2-year-old campaign primarily in Ontario and Tall Dark Stranger was a winner in both the Metro and Breeders Crown as a 2-year-old north of the border. Bettor's Wish battled in every start as a sophomore and was known for his grit but not always for his victories. Tall Dark Stranger showed up and won every big race of his 3-year-old season with the exception of the Breeders Crown. Yet even with that loss Tall Dark Stranger received the acclaim he deserved for bitterly fighting off every rival with the exception of one that was perhaps shielded from his vision. Tall Dark Stranger will have the strength of Hanover Shoe Farms to back his first year, and given his glorious pedigree, is likely to have a string of "A-list" broodmares to sweeten the list of what figures to be an extraordinary first crop. Bettor's Wish may have an ace-in-the-hole in that he'll have a decent first crop from the 60 mares he bred this year. Bettor's Delight will be 23 years old in January, with enough lifetime foals to have theoretically produced not just successful sons as stallions, but grandsons and great grandsons. The late Somebeachsomewhere didn't need much time at all to produce a successful successor in Captaintreacherous. If this was a horserace on the track, everyone would be betting on both Tall Dark Stranger and Bettor's Wish to get the job done. In the breeding shed, both must overcome history that to this point has not been kind to this stallion line.