Meadowlands: Darlin's Angel does it again in Kindergarten Series

Darlin’s Angel ran her win streak to four in winning one of seven $25,000 divisions of the fifth and final leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-olds of each sex and gait Friday night at the Meadowlands.

The four $125,000 Kindergarten finals take place on Saturday, Nov. 1.

A daughter of Captaintreacherous-Darlin's Delight, Darlin's Angel got a late start in 2025, appearing for the first time in a Kindergarten preliminary, finishing fifth in a sparkling effort after leaving from the second tier on Aug. 23.

"She had the 11-hole in her debut, but she hit the line strong," said Lauren Tritton, who has driven the Juan Cano trainee in each of her five career starts. "Since then, she's just continued to improve."

Following that fifth-place finish, 'Angel' has given her foes a devil of a time, winning twice at Pocono Downs and twice at The Big M. She went wire-to-wire Friday night in the eighth race in the second of two filly paces in a never-an-anxious-moment stroll, and hit the wire 2 1/4 lengths in front of second-place finisher JK Fierce Lady. Heartofthesunrise was third.

"She's really smart," said Tritton, the only female driver in history to win four races on a Meadowlands card. "She does nothing wrong. She tells me what she wants to do and I'm just along for the ride."

Because horses with three series starts are given preference, Darlin's Angel may not go in the Kindergarten final (she has just two starts), but Tritton explained there's another big fish to fry.

"I think she'll be a major player in the [$400,000] Three Diamonds [on Nov. 15]."

As the 1-5 favorite, Darlin's Angel, who is owned by Hot Lead Farm, returned $2.60 to her backers. Her final time of 1:51 was a lifetime-best.

Wave Dancer pulled off a 50-1 surprise in the first of two filly paces (race four) for driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Linda Toscano, winning for the first time in nine outings in 1:52 from well off-the-pace to nail even-money favorite Fabulous Hanover by a nose. Car Keys was third.

"I didn't know much about her. Linda said they have had problems that they have been working out," said Boyd, who teamed up with the filly for the first time. "I took my time through the first turn and it worked out perfect. [I did not like my chances in deep stretch] but in the moment, she was pacing so hard. I thought we had a shot. She raced great."

A daughter of Perfect Sting-Making Waves, Wave Dancer scored for owner Brittany Farms and paid $103.40 as the longest shot on the board in the field of six.

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SLIP ME FIVE: The five other winners of Kindergarten dashes on the card were:

*Race 2 - Colt and Gelding Trot: Ultimate Betrayal (Calgary Games-Muscle Babe), driven by Niko Karna, trained by Noel Daley, winning time 1:54 recording his first victory from four lifetime starts, paid $25.80 as the 11-1 fourth choice in the wagering

*Race 3 - Filly Trot: Busy Miss Lissy S (Calgary Games-Hill's Angel S), Johnathan Ahle, Ake Svanstedt, lifetime-best 1:55 to up her record to five wins in seven career starts, $2.40 as the 1-5 favorite

*Race 6 - Colt and Gelding Trot: Magic Punk (Wishing Stone-I D Entity No), Ahle, Svanstedt, 1:54 3/5 to win for the fourth time in seven starts, $4 as the even-money public choice

*Race 7 - Colt and Gelding Pace: Bookie J (a gelding by Perfect Sting-Skyy), Brett Beckwith, Chris Ryder, lifetime-best-equaling 1:51 1/5 to win for the third time in 10 outings, $7.60 as the 5-2 second choice

*Race 11 - Filly Trot: All Time Trot S (Googoo Gaagaa-Gorgeous Am), Ahle, Svanstedt, lifetime-best 1:55 to win for the second time in five tries, $7 as the 5-2 second choice

A LITTLE MORE: Ahle and Svanstedt teamed up to win four times on the program to lead the driver and trainer colonies, respectively. All-source wagering on the 14-race card totaled $1,798,728. Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m. (EDT).

--press release (Meadowlands)--