Meadowlands: Manchego shines in Dr. John R. Steele Memorial

Manchego regained the top spot among older trotting mares with her 1:50 stakes record win in the $186,000 Dr. John R. Steele Memorial at the Meadowlands on Saturday afternoon.

Dexter Dunn guided the mare to the lead going into the first turn and repelled challenges from Swedish import Darling Mearas and later Hannelore Hanover to score her second victory of the season.

“[The lead is] what I wanted,” Dunn said. “She’s so good on the front end - she’s proven that in her career. If you get on the front she just feels awesome.”

Manchego went to the quarter in 26 flat, backed it down going to the half in 55 2/5, kicked away to a three-quarters in 1:23 1/5, and polished off the win in a 26 4/5 sprint to the wire. Hannelore Hanover sat the pocket until the stretch, but fell short of the leader by half a length. Darling Mearas tired late after a sustained first-over attack to finish third. Custom Cantab also menaced after fanning out at the head of the lane, but made little headway and finished fourth.

“26 seconds in that heat into that first turn is a pretty good quarter,” said Dunn. “We really needed a breather into that second quarter and we got it. Coming around [the far turn] she was travelling really good; I had Andy outside me with Darling Mearas. I drove her last time, and [I knew] with how tough she is - she wasn’t going away. Yannick was on my back; he was travelling pretty good, and I was just trying to keep him in the pocket as long as I could. So once he pulled out, I [urged] my girl, and she kicked [away].”

Manchego got back to her winning ways for trainer Nancy Johansson and owner Black Horse Racing after a rough start to 2019 which saw her miss the board in each race but the one previous. The 4-year-old mare by Muscle Hill raked in $663,994 in 2018; today’s victory will pull her above $150,000 for the season.

“I guess they changed a few things, she probably wasn’t on top of her game,” Dunn said. “With horses like her, there’s high expectations every time they come out on the track. Going from three to four [years old] isn’t an easy transition for some horses. She took a little while to get sorted out and get straighted, and she’s back on top of her game now.”

She has now earned just shy of $1.7 million lifetime in 33 races, including 21 wins, and equaled her lifetime mark today.

The odds-on favorite paid $3.80 to win.