Meadowlands: Fashion Schooner, Joviality S deliver in Del Miller Memorial divisions

Joviality S and Brian Sears overcame post seven in an instant and then wired the field in the first $100,000 Del Miller Memorial division for 3-year-old trotting fillies at the Meadowlands on Saturday night. The Yonkers Trot champion took a 1:50 2/5 career record in the process, holding off last year's standout Venerable in a two-filly match race to the wire.

Joviality S was electric at the start and looped the leavers that included Venerable (David Miller), who settled into the pocket entering the opening bend. Joviality S hit the opening quarter in 26 4/5, but Sears immediately got a hold of her and was able to stroll to the half in a leisurely 56 seconds flat while unopposed.

The Marcus Melander-trained Joviality S was unthreatened, though Lilibitalexis and driver Dexter Dunn made a second- half move without cover but couldn't reach, as Sears hit the accelerator and Joviality S was moving at full speed, hitting three quarters in 1:24 1/5.

The race was on, and David Miller looked to have Venerable ready for a high level sprint in mid-stretch. Sears and Joviality S were not to be denied, though, and under mild urging, the Chapter Seven-sired lass captured her sixth straight win as a sophomore without defeat, with a 26 1/5 final quarter necessary to prevail. Venerable was second, and Selfie Queen well-back in third.

"If I drew inside, I would have raced her off a helmet for a while," said Sears, suggesting the early speed was more Joviality's mindset given her recent half-mile track explosive miles.

"She's so smart out there," said Melander in reacting to the first and second quarters where Joviality S sprinted and then was extremely relaxed in the second quarter.

Courant Inc. own Joviality S, the 1-5 favorite that returned $2.60.

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In the first $100,000 Miller division it was Fashion Schooner and driver Tim Tetrick winning for the fourth time in six starts this year with a virtual front-end speed display culminating in a 1:50 1/5 career-best mile.

Manon and driver Dexter Dunn jetted out to the front from the outside in the field of six. Manon had the front in 26 2/5, but Tetrick, who had positioned Fashion Schooner in third through the opening quarter, moved right past that call to take control with Fashion Schooner.

The half was reached in 54 seconds flat and there was little movement until Delilah Hanover and Todd McCarthy moved approaching the three-quarters. That move forced Dunn to tip Manon out just as the field hit three-quarters in 1:22 4/5.

Tetrick hardly moved a muscle, and Fashion Schooner responded with a 27 2/5 final quarter sprint to finish off Manon, who hung in for second, with Delilah Hanover holding on to the show spot.

Trained by Jim Campbell, Fashion Schooner is owned by Fashion Farms LLC.

"I was happy the way she dug in," said Campbell of Fashion Schooner's grit in the homestretch. "She gave us everything she's got."

As the even-money choice, Fashion Schooner paid $4 to win.