Meadowlands: Beach Glass reigns in Meadowlands Pace final

Beach Glass, a colt from the final crop of the late, great Somebeachsomewhere, avenged his late sire's only career defeat by taking Saturday night's $600,000 Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-old colts and geldings in 1:47 2/5. Making it even sweeter was that Beach Glass is campaigned by trainer Brent MacGrath and owner Schooner II Stable, who also raced Somebeachsomewhere during his illustrious career.

Elimination winner Market Based (Dexter Dunn) blasted out from post four and led the way at the 26 1/5 opening quarter, but he would be overtaken by a two-wide Night Hawk (David Miller) after that marker. Hot on Night Hawk's heels was Beach Glass (Yannick Gingras), and Beach Glass cleared to the front just before the 53 2/5 half went on the board.

I Did It Myway (Andy McCarthy) tried a first-over attack out of the sixth spot in the backstretch, and he advanced into second to put pressure on Beach Glass around the last turn and over to the 1:21 3/5 three-quarters. After repelling I Did It Myway's bid, Beach Glass put I Did It Myway away for good late on the bend, and from there, nobody could match strides with the leader, as he kicked away to win by a length and three-quarters. Mad Max Hanover (Tim Tetrick) worked out a second-over trip from post nine and turned that into a runner-up result, and I Did It Myway hung on to finish third. Night Hawk and Fourever Boy (Mike Wilder) completed the top five.

"I just wanted to be the last one to the front. I didn't want to have to release somebody and then re-move. When I was, I felt really, really confident," said Gingras, who captured his third Meadowlands Pace final. "This one, honestly I didn't think he could lose. It was my job to get him clear racetrack, and he was going to do the rest. I'm super, super impressed with him. He paced at the wire faster than at any point in the race. That's why I'm so proud of him for that.

"It feels good to win for them. I've never really talked about it, but I always felt a little guilty because I was part of the speed battle [in the 2008 Meadowlands Pace]. Somebeachsomewhere was a great, great horse, and that was the only race that he ever lost. To be able to get the win for them, it means a lot to me."

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Also bred by Schooner II Stable, Beach Glass is out of the Bettor's Delight mare Im With Her. This was Beach Glass's sixth win from just ten career starts, and he has now earned $564,645. He was the 1-5 favorite and paid $2.60 to win.

"It feels awfully good, no question. It's a huge win. We had some bad luck in 2008, that's racing. This horse is just finding his stride," offered MacGrath. "Yannick was talking about how strong he was in the homestretch. We should have a good remainder of the season if he just keeps doing what he's been doing.

"It's unbelievable, and for us to breed him. We bought the mare to breed to Beach. She was a nice filly herself. She got money in the Breeders Crown as a 2-year-old. We pulled her out of training when we had only the one shot at the frozen semen, and here we are tonight."

WILD WAGERING: With a pair of races reaching $550,000 in action, all-source wagering on Pace Night totaled $4,733,389, up $200,000 over Pace Night 2021, and just short of $1 million more than the previous 2022 best.

Betting on race nine - the Dorothy Haughton Memorial - was $550,154, with $181,271 of that on the Late 50-cent Pick 4, establishing a season's best for the track's most popular multi-leg wager. A total of $551,621 was bet on the 12th race - the Meadowlands Pace - which established a single-race 2022 best.

The previous high-water mark at The Big M this year was the $3,755,422 pushed through the windows on March 5, good for a then yearly best average per race of $288,878. Per-race betting on the Pace Night card was $338,099, an increase of 17 percent over the previous per-race high.

--handle info courtesy of the Meadowlands--