Meadowlands: Logan Park leads all the way in FanDuel Open Trot Championship

Pylon-starter Logan Park hustled to the lead and, at odds of 11-1, rejected 1-9 favorite and retiree Winner's Bet to claim the crown in the $325,000 FanDuel Open Trot Championship at the Meadowlands on Saturday night (Nov. 30).

Driver Doug McNair scurried Logan Park to the front entering the first turn and carried the field by the quarter in 27 2/5. Logan Park coasted up the backside to sneak a breather into a 56 2/5 half, while challengers promptly encroached through the slowed tempo heading to the final turn.

Winner's Bet, positioned fourth before lunging to a first-over push, attacked Logan Park into the final turn. The two came snout to snout by three-quarters in 1:24 3/5 and stayed in lockstep spinning for home as Logan Park refused to cave to Winner's Bet's bid. Logan Park swelled from the challenge and Winner's Bet wavered into the final eighth, losing ground to his foe who steamed over the line to a 2 1/4 length win in 1:51 2/5. Periculum zipped through a seam at the pylons off a ground-saving trip to snag second from a weary Winner's Bet while Oh Well sat a pocket trip for fourth.

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"He's been a great horse for the last couple of years," McNair said after the race. "Rob [Fellows] took his hopples off three-parts of the way through the year, and I think that really stepped him up another notch. Other than the 10-hole in the Breeders Crown, he was great tonight. He rates himself so easy - he puts his ears up when he makes the front and just waits for them to come and does exactly what he has to do."

A 6-year-old gelding by Archangel and out of the Muscle Mass mare Rite Outa The Park, Logan Park has now won 36 times from 83 starts and earned $1,527,589 for owners Outofthepark Stable, Reg Higgs and Arpad Szabo. Rob Fellows trains Logan Park, who paid $24 to win.