The 2022 edition of the Graduate Series for 4-year-olds was featured on Saturday night's card at the Meadowlands. Pacers met in two $50,000 divisions, while trotters raced in a single $75,000 flight. Trainer Tony Alagna would sweep the pacing races, tallying with Carbine (Todd McCarthy) and Abuckabett Hanover (Tim Tetrick). Starting from post one, Carbine got away in the pocket behind Bettors Donttell (Yannick Gingras), but pulled to the outside to take command past the 26 3/5 opening quarter. Carbine would yield for the two-hole again past the 54 2/5 half, though, as Charlie May (David Miller), the 1-5 favorite, pressed on two-wide after starting from post nine and took the lead away from him. Charlie May rolled through three-quarters in 1:22 after easily dealing with a first-over attack from Hellabalou (Andrew McCarthy) and turned for home first, but Carbine swung to the outside in the lane and was able to rally past Charlie May late in the mile to score by a head in 1:49 3/5. Southwind Gendry (Corey Callahan) worked out a third-over trip and completed the trifecta. "I was really happy with the way the horse raced last week (when second in his first outing of the season)," said Todd McCarthy. "It was always going to be difficult for Charlie May from the outside post. He was going to have to do a lot of work. When I asked my horse, he gave me everything he had. "Last week, he got to running a little bit on the turn, so I had to help him out a little bit there, but Tony did a great job making a few minor changes so he'd get around the turns a little better tonight. Hopefully, he's got a good season ahead of him." Alagna trains Carbine, a son of Somebeachsomewhere, for co-owner/breeder Let It Ride Stables Inc. and partners Bottom Line Racing and Howard Taylor. Carbine is now an eight-time winner from 18 career starts, and he pushed his earnings to $96,792. He was sent off at 4-1 and paid $10.00 to win. In the other Graduate Pace, I'll Drink To That (D. Miller) zipped to the lead from post two and chopped out the opening quarter in 26 2/5. He would then give way to sit behind last year's Little Brown Jug champion Lou's Pearlman (Yannick Gingras), who reached the half first in 54 1/5. Rockyroad Hanover (Dexter Dunn), who started from post ten, had left in hopes of finding a seat from that slot, but had been unable to do so, so he was forced to press on first-over, and he would make his way into second on the rim on the last turn. That gave a second-over trip to Abuckabett Hanover, but Lou's Pearlman still maintained command in a 29 4/5 third quarter and tried to finish it off in the sprint for home. Lou's Pearlman and Rockyroad Hanover continued to trade blows into the stretch, but Tetrick fanned Abuckabett Hanover to their outside, and Abuckabett Hanover, with a 25 4/5 last quarter, got up to score by a length in 1:50. Lou's Pearlman held second over Rockyroad Hanover. "I was confident," said Tetrick. "He's super-fast. Tonight, we got a great trip. I think that's where he likes it best (racing from off-the-pace)." A son of Betting Line, Abuckabett Hanover is owned by Crawford Farms Racing, Alagna Racing LLC., Jablonsky Held Stable, and Barbara Wienick. Abuckabett Hanover made his 12th appearance in the winner's circle from 33 attempts, and he has now pocketed $784,782. The 2-1 second choice, Abuckabett Hanover returned $6.20 to win. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter The Graduate Trot saw Ahundreddollarbill (T. McCarthy) grab the top spot in a 27 second opening quarter, but he was willing to let a two-wide Cuatro De Julio (Louis Baudron) clear past that point. Cuatro De Julio got rough and then went off-stride, though, leaving Sonofamistery (Brian Sears) to challenge and then overtake Ahundreddollarbill before the 55 second half. Once Sonofamistery got to the front, he was confronted by a parked Rattle My Cage (Gingras), and those two would battle on the last turn, to the 1:23 three-quarters, and into the lane. Both were game, but Sonofamistery was able to stay in front to prevail by a neck in 1:52 1/5. Delayed Hanover (Ake Svanstedt) rallied from eighth to third in the last quarter. The recent winner of the New Jersey Breeders Maturity final, Sonofamistery is a 4-year-old son of Muscle Hill trained by Marcus Melander for owners S R F Stable and Holly Lane Stud East LTD. This was Sonofamistery's eighth victory from 24 lifetime tries, and he has now put away $259,632. He was the 5-2 second choice and paid $7.40 to win. There were also a trio of Open events on card. Tetrick won both the $31,500 trot and the $31,500 pace, taking the former with Jeff Cullipher-trained Lovedbythemasses from second-over in 1:52 and the latter with Ron Burke trainee Workin Ona Mystery on the engine in 1:48 1/5. The $40,000 race for filly & mare pacers went to Amazing Dream N (T. McCarthy / Linda Toscano), who brushed to the top before the half and held sway from there to tally in 1:50 3/5. 2021 Horse of the Year Test Of Faith (D. Miller) rallied from last to fourth in the final panel after kicking home in 26 seconds. NINE IS FINE: Saturday marked another night of big action at The Big M, as a total of $3,359,528 was put in play, marking the ninth time this year that betting busted the magic $3 million barrier. Also, for the second time in 2022, betting blew past the $3 million plateau on both nights of the race week. On April 1-2, a total of $6.3 million was pushed through the windows, while this weekend saw a total of $6.4 million in all-source wagering. Saturday night's 50-cent Pick 4 races once again served to stimulate the pools, as a total of $355,651 was wagered on the sixth race before $337,816 was bet on the 10th. --quotes/handle details courtesy of the Meadowlands--