Meadowlands: Miki And Minnie sparkles in Three Diamonds final
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Miki And Minnie, the Breeders Crown champion and winner of the Kentucky Championship Series final, added to her case for 2-year-old pacing filly of the year honors with a 1:49 2/5 victory in Saturday night's $338,200 Three Diamonds final at the Meadowlands.
Driven by Dexter Dunn, Miki And Minnie landed in fifth from post two and watched as Chakra (Anibal Borjas) launched from post eight to the front in a 26 3/5 quarter. Faze (Tim Tetrick) elected to drive on after leaving from the seven-hole, but Borjas wasn't in a giving mood and parked out Faze en route to the half, which went on the board in a spicy 54 seconds flat.
Just past the half, David Miller tipped out of fourth with Kindergarten Series champion Rodeo Drive Deo, and that gave Dunn and Miki And Minnie cover to follow, though they were both three-wide for a bit to get around the retreating Faze. Rodeo Drive Deo sustained her bid to take command away from Chakra prior to the 1:21 4/5 three-quarters, with Miki And Minnie still right on Miller's helmet.
After a quick tuck into the pocket past three-quarters, Dunn brought Miki And Minnie back to the outside for the stretch drive. Rodeo Drive Deo did have the jump and was game when Miller asked her, but Miki And Minnie was able to wear her down to get the victory by a length and a quarter as the 4-5 favorite. Shes A Streaker (Yannick Gingras) was third, followed by Lyons Benz (Corey Callahan) and Baret (James MacDonald).
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"She's terrific. She's done everything we've asked of her, and it's a great way to finish off the year. It looks like we're 2-year-old of the year," said winning trainer Chris Ryder. "You can't be the best unless you beat the best. They've thrown a lot at her and she's come out on top in the three big races. I'm honored to have her. She's a lovely filly.
"I've got a lot of faith in my filly. She finds the wire, so I wasn't really surprised (she passed Rodeo Drive Deo). I can't tell you I knew she was going to go by her, but she did, as we know. My filly's got a good set of lungs and she keeps going."
A daughter of Always B Miki, Miki And Minnie is trained by Ryder for owners/breeders Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz. She has a summary of 6-4-1 from 11 trips behind the gate, has put away $840,850 and returned $3.60 to win.