Meadowlands: Alexa Skye dominant in Friday's feature

Alexa Skye maintained her spot as the hottest horse in all of harness racing, blowing away a solid field in the Friday night featured $22,500 winners-over $11,500 pace for fillies and mares at the Meadowlands.

"She's made a believer out of me," said her trainer Brett Pelling.

And everybody else, for that matter.

Sent to the gate as the 3-5 favorite, driver Todd McCarthy asked for speed from Alexa Skye from post eight in the 10-horse field, and speed is what he got, as after New Zealand import Dbldelitebrigade led at the quarter, McCarthy moved his 4-year-old mare to the top well before the three-eighths.

The daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Pirouette Hanover led by 1 1/2 lengths at the half despite a rated fraction of 28 4/5 in the second quarter. Then, Alexa Skye sprinted the third panel in 26 4/5 to extend her lead to 3 1/2 lengths at three-quarters.

But she still had more.

Her final quarter of 27 3/5 saw her hit the wire in 1:51, 4 1/4 lengths in front of second-place finisher The Bandit Queen, another New Zealand-bred. Dbldelitebrigade held third.

"She's always been a really great-gaited filly," said Pelling. "But when I look back now, in her defense, when she started off in her 3-year-old year she was driven hard and used hard, and I don't think she liked that. In the latter part of the year [during a season when she went seven-for-17 and earned $63,430], Todd started driving her, but she drew bad posts. She closed in three or four races in-a-row, and ever since then, she has been strong.

"We do sometimes not consider how young they really are. She was a June 12 foal, so she was three months behind a lot of the horses she raced against. That's how I see it."

Alexa Skye's strength has been unquestioned of late, as she's won six of her last eight and eight of her last 11.

"Her start at Yonkers [when she missed a head after going parked the mile one week ago] had to be seen to be believed," said Pelling. "But she bounced back and looked even better tonight."

Alexa Skye, who returned $3.20 to her backers, has now won 12 of 33 lifetime outings, good for earnings of $149,890 for owners Blue Chip Bloodstock and John Lengacher.

The Blue Chip Matchmaker Series for older pacing mares at Yonkers Raceway - which begins March 12 - is what Pelling has his eye on for his prized pupil.

"That's a very tough series for a 4-year-old," said Pelling. "That's going to be very tough on her."

Maybe so, but the way she's going right now, Alexa Skye is the one with the target on her back.

THAT'S A 'HI' CARRYOVER: No one correctly selected all five finishers in the 13th race 10-cent Hi-Five, creating a $21,961 carryover for Saturday's 15th race.

A LITTLE MORE: Todd McCarthy led the driver's colony with three winners, while Andy McCarthy, Yannick Gingras and Simon Allard all had two apiece. … One shrewd player betting into the Belmont Park hub had the only winning ticket in the 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 and walked away with $10,886. … All-source wagering totaled $3,116,295, the first time on a Friday this year that betting broke the $3 million barrier. … Wagering has been at least $3 million six times thus far in 2021. During all of 2020, that magic number was reached on 11 occasions. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6 p.m.

--press release (the Meadowlands)--