Meadowlands: Sabonis wouldn't be denied in Graduate Series Pace final

Ssbonis, with Dexter Dunn in the sulky, employed new tactics, moving to the front-end in the early stages of Saturday's $230,000 Stan Bergstein Graduate Series final for 4-year-old pacers and scoring a mild upset in a career-best 1:47 3/5 in the Meadowlands co-feature.

Dunn had post advantage over his main rivals leaving from number two, and he used it wisely, allowing Vandiemen Bluechip to take control of the race early, while discouraging favorites Nijinsky and Captain Albano, as both of those relaxed into tucks on the opening bend.

Once Jason Bartlett and Captain Luke cleared the lead past the 26 1/5 opening quarter, Dunn moved quickly with Sabonis to secure the front and was met with almost instant pressure from Nijinsky, as the pair moved to the half in 54 seconds. While most expected Nijinsky to gain command, Sabonis and Dunn had other ideas and instead kept Louis Roy and Nijinsky parked on the outside as the pace accelerated.

With three-quarters in 1:21 2/5 and Nijinsky still on the attack and favored Captain Albano primed in second-over position for Todd McCarthy, Sabonis shifted gears into the homestretch, putting the outer tier in peril and sprinting hard through the straight.

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Only Captain Luke had a real shot at the son of Tellitlikeitis along the pylons, but he wasn't gaining as the Brett Pelling-trained Sabonis kicked home in 26 1/5 for his first win in four starts this year after 16 wins as a sophomore. Captain Luke settled for second and Nijinsky was dead-game, finishing third ahead of Captain Albano.

Purchased in May by Diamond Creek Racing and Brett Pelling, Sabonis scored as a 9-2 offering and returned $11.60 to win.

"Brett had Sabonis ready to rock tonight," said Dunn following the victory, giving credit to Pelling.

The trainer returned the favor. "Dex came back after his race two starts back and said he'd be better if he was drifting in rather than out. We made some changes," said Pelling.