Meadowlands: Betting tops $3 million mark again
On a perfect Memorial Day Weekend Saturday night that featured great weather and great racing, wagering went past the $3 million mark at the Meadowlands for the 12th time from 39 total racing programs in 2022.
The total action on the 13-race card was $3,245,014 (good for a per race average of $249,616), as the sixth race registered the most play at $305,235, with $96,554 of that poured into the early 50-cent Pick 4 pool.
The next three top single-race wagering numbers were registered in the fifth ($295,436), eighth ($274,468) and 10th ($299,771) races, with the 10th race late 50-cent Pick 4 taking in $110,172.
IT'S ACADEMIC TAKES FEATURE: A fifth-place finish in the wake of Ecurie D's world-record 1:49 1/5 effort in the Cutler last week proved to be more than enough of a tightener for It's Academic, who easily bested six foes in the feature, the $31,500 Winners Over/Open for trotters.
Driver Yannick Gingras, who teamed up with trainer Ron Burke to win four times last Saturday night, clicked with the 5-year-old son of Uncle Peter-Annapolis in 1:51, just two-fifths of a second off his lifetime-best.
Kenziesky Hanover was away well from the start and led around the first turn as It's Academic was fired up alongside. Kenziesky Hanover had a slight advantage at the quarter (27 4/5) before It's Academic took control shortly thereafter.
It's Academic breezed through the half in 56 seconds and three-quarters in 1:23 3/5 before recording a final quarter of 27 2/5 to take his 20th win from 50 lifetime starts. His bankroll now stands at $849,623. Next Level Stuff, last in the early going, rallied uncovered to get second in a superb effort, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind the winner. Kenziesky Hanover was third.
It's Academic paid $2.60 to win as the 1-5 favorite.
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A LITTLE MORE: Two shrewd 20-cent Survivor Pick 7 bettors walked away with a big payday after the ninth race. The challenging sequence, which included three horses that won at odds of 6-1 or more, returned $5,975.66. Tim Tetrick, Andy McCarthy and Dexter Dunn led the driver's colony with two winners apiece. Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.
--press release (Meadowlands)--