Meadowlands: Control The Moment the conqueror of the Cane

Meadowlands Pace champion Control The Moment backed up that victory with another one in the $320,000 Cane Pace, the first leg Pacing's Triple Crown, on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands. The time for the added distance of a mile and an eighth was 2:02 4/5.

Control The Moment (Brian Sears) got away sixth while 99-1 Big Top Hanover (Joe Bongiorno) blasted out to overcome the outside post ten. Big Top Hanover would put the 25 4/5 opening quarter on the board, but fellow Ron Burke trainee JK Will Power (Dave Miller) moved up to grab the first position beyond that marker.

JK Will Power would reach the half in 54 2/5 and the three-quarters in 1:21 4/5, giving a first-over Manny (Andy Miller) the cold shoulder at those stations. Control The Moment had been positioned third-over behind Manny and Ideal Rocky (Corey Callahan), but Sears fired him three-wide just past three-quarters, and he would engage and then overtake JK Will Power before they turned for home.

In the stretch Control The Moment opened up a gap on his foes, and although Manhattan Beach (Matt Kakaley) had good pace on the far outside through the lane, Control The Moment remained clear by just over a length. JK Will Power was third, just ahead of filly Pure Country (Brett Miller), who had a traffic-plagued trip after starting from the trailing post 11.

"He hadn't raced in a couple weeks, and they were racing aggressive enough early in the race," Sears said. "My horse was a little keyed up when we came third-over, and I had to three-deep him a little earlier than I'd like. He's a really nice horse, and he paced right to the wire. With the time off he probably wasn't super-tight, but he was really fresh anyway."

Brad Maxwell trains Control The Moment, a colt by Well Said, for owner Control The Moment Stable. This was his 12th win from 17 career starts, and he has now earned $1,034,820. He paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite.