Meadowlands: Crystal Fashion upsets favorites in John Cashman Memorial

Crystal Fashion drove by race favorites Six Pack and Guardian Angel AS in the final strides to capture the $280,000 John Cashman Memorial for free-for-all trotters at the Meadowlands on Saturday (Aug. 3).

David Miller had Crystal Fashion away alertly from post seven in the field of 10 and swept to the lead quickly, hitting the opening quarter in 26 3/5. Six Pack, the betting favorite at post time, had to work hard to go past Crystal Fashion and cleared past the quarter. Six Pack controlled the pace nicely with a half in 55 seconds for trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt as Crystal Fashion sat patiently in the pocket.

Action picked up on the far turn, when second choice Guardian Angel AS and Tim Tetrick got into gear and put pressure on the leader through three-quarters in 1:23 1/5. As the top pair battled head-to-head, Miller was fortunate to find room to angle off the rail with Crystal Fashion entering the homestretch. The Jim Campbell-trained 4-year-old picked up the bit and rallied gamely in the late stages to wear down the field and score in 1:50, a Cashman Memorial stakes record-equaling time. Guardian Angel As finished second, with Six Pack back in third.

"I was happy the way the trip worked out," said Miller. "When I got room, I had plenty of horse."

Jules Siegel's Fashion Farms LLC. owns Crystal Fashion, a gelded son of Cantab Hall that won for the fourth time in eight starts in 2019.

"It was his first step against older horses," Campbell said following the race. "You give him a chance, and he'll go right to the wire."

Crystal Fashion was racing for the first time since winning the $450,000 Hambletonian Maturity as a 23-1 shot. On Saturday, he faced older competition for the first time and returned $18.80 to his backers.