Meadowlands: Major Occasion A prevails, Pick 6 carries over

Displaying a remarkable closing kick, Major Occasion A was airborne through a final quarter of 26 seconds in her seasonal debut to become the second straight Friday night feature winner to do it in last-to-first fashion, taking the $22,500 Winners Over $50,000 Lifetime for pacing fillies and mares in 1:52 4/5 at the Meadowlands.

"She's a good mare," said winning driver Dexter Dunn. "Her [1:54 4/5] qualifier last week was a good one."

And it proved to be more than enough to get her ready for the assignment at hand.

It appeared that the race belonged to Betalady, who was on the lead through soft fractions of 28 1/5, 57 2/5, and 1:25 4/5. Major Occasion A opted to race from last in the six-horse field for most of the mile, picking up cover at the five-eighths from 9-5 favorite Sweet Lucy Lou, who was last week's come-from-behind winner.

Off the far turn, the 'Major' tipped off her cover before rocketing home to record a one length win over Betalady. Sweet Lucy Lou was third.

"When you're sitting back last and you're chasing good mares, it's going to be hard to catch them," said Dunn. "But she really knocked it down through the stretch. She was good off the helmet and should have a good season."

Trained by Nifty Norman for owner Enzed Racing Stable, Major Occasion A, a 7-year-old daughter of Art Major-Fake Occasion, returned $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice in the wagering. She now has 21 wins from just 68 career outings, good for earnings of $415,273.

HE'S A GRAND OLD MAN: Even though he was making the 293rd start of his career, 14-year-old Statesman N looked like a kid out there in the $12,500 Play Meadowlands final for $7,500 claimers, scoring by a determined head in 1:53 3/5.

Owned and trained by Yogi Sheridan, Statesman N completed a two-race sweep of the series by brushing to the lead before the half and holding off the pocket-sitting Northern Rock after the pair duked it out toe-to-toe through the stretch.

Statesman N, a gelded son of Christian Cullen-Club Sport who was driven by Dunn, now has 58 career wins and lifetime earnings of $949,483. As the heavy 2-5 public choice, he returned $2.80 to win.

A LITTLE MORE: Mark MacDonald continued his winning ways by pacing the driving colony with three winners on the card, giving him eight victories over the last five programs. There were no winning tickets sold in the 20-cent Pick 6, creating a carryover of $7,384. Those with five correct collected $96.14. All-source handle totaled $2,701,155. Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

--press release (the Meadowlands)--