Meadowlands: Manchego doesn't disappoint in Miss Versatility

Manchego kicked off 2020 Meadowlands Pace night with a 1:51 victory in the single $40,000 division of the third leg of the Miss Versality Series for mare trotters.

Driven by Dexter Dunn, Manchego tucked in fourth from post six while Swedish-bred Felicityshagwell (Andy Miller) stepped away quickly from post position five and hit the opening quarter in 27 1/5. After the dust settled, Dunn moved Manchego to the outside in the backstretch, and she marched up to and then around Felicityshagwell past the 55 1/5 half.

Around the last turn Manchego had things well under control, and although Beautiful Sin (Yannick Gingras) put in a first-over bid before the 1:23 1/5 three-quarters that got her up into second turning for home, Manchego rebuffed that try in the lane and then pulled away to a convincing win. Kenziesky Hanover (Corey Callahan) angled out through the stretch after sitting inside to get second, and Plunge Blue Chip (Ake Svanstedt), who trailed for the first three-quarters of the mile, advanced on the far outside to get third. Felicityshagwell wound up fourth and Princess Deo (Andrew McCarthy) took fifth.

"She was doing it pretty easy, and she has good acceleration, so I wasn't concerned," Dunn said of Manchego.

Nancy Takter trains Manchego, a 5-year-old daughter of Muscle Hill, for owner Black Horse Racing. This was the 30th career victory for the double millionaire, and she paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 favorite.