Meadowlands: No rust for Thunder off the shelf

He’d been away from the races for 34 days but that did not stop Thunder from lighting up his foes in the sixth and final leg of the Kindergarten Classic, a series for 2-year-olds of both sex and gait, at the Meadowlands Friday night.

Thunder, a John Butenschoen-trained trotter, sat in the two-hole early before emerging from the rail with three-eighths of a mile to go. With Yonkers kingpin Jason Bartlett at the controls, the son of Conway Hall-CR Oh Suzanna made steady progress around the far turn to get within a head of leader Reign Of Honor before going on to a dominant five-length score. Reign Of Honor was second with Memo finishing third.

In lowering his previous lifetime best by one-and-one-fifth seconds, he completed the mile in 1:54 3/5 and returned $3.60 to his backers for owners Crawford Farms Racing, J. Day and V I P Internet Stables.

A top performer throughout the year on the New York Sire Stakes circuit who finished second in his previous outing to the undefeated Gimpanzee, Thunder now has five lifetime wins in only 10 starts and has earned $213,071.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Four horses won second straight Kindergarten events as they remained sharp for next week’s finals.

Filly trotter Global Pageant (1:56 3/5) scored in the opener for trainer Linda Toscano and driver Scott Zeron as the 4-5 favorites while filly pacer Odds On St Lucie (1:53 1/5) completed an all-chalk Daily Double at odds of 3-5 for the driver-trainer team of Brett Miller and Tony Alagna.

The Erv Miller-trained filly pacer Michelon’s Filly rolled by the field for a second straight week from sixth and last at three-quarters to score in 1:54 3/5 with Marcus Miller guiding the 1-2 public choice in the fourth race.

Divine Spirit was the last of those to win a second consecutive series start, taking a colt and gelding trot in 1:57 4/5 for driver Andy McCarthy and trainer Brett Pelling. They scored as the 7-5 second choice in the eighth race.

--press release (Meadowlands)--