Meadowlands: Second-leg winners all return for round three of Graduate

The final preliminary legs of the Graduate Series for 4-year-olds on both gaits will take place Saturday at the Meadowlands, with all four winners from the second round returning for a potential encore performance.

The trotters hit leadoff in races four and six with Winner's Bet and Hasty Bid, respectively, seeking to build a lone win into a streak. Winner's Bet made his 2024 debut a winning one with an impressive 1 1/2 length victory over Ponda Jet last weekend at the Meadowlands in a sizzling 1:50, equaling the track record for 4-year-old trotting horses.

Winner's Bet draws post three with Dexter Dunn in the bike, while Ponda Jet gets the six-hole and David Miller in this rematch.

While Winner's Bet seems likely to be the heavy favorite in his division, Hasty Bid is going to have much more competition for that honor in race six. Top Canadian driver James MacDonald came down to drive for Nancy Takter and pulled off a 6-1 upset over Special Way in 1:51 3/5 last time. Now, Special Way has a start under her belt this year and figures to be even better, as does Oh Well, who charged home in 26 1/5 to finish third behind Winner's Bet in just start two of the year for the Marcus Melander trainee.

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With just six behind the gate, traffic shouldn't be an issue during the mile contest, though Hasty Bid drew post two, Oh Well (Todd McCarthy) three and Special Way (Tim Tetrick) five on Saturday.

The pacers get underway in race 10 with Coach Stefanos (MacDonald, post four) and Voukefalas (Jordan Stratton, post two) hooking up for the second straight week after the former won by less than a length in 1:47 3/5 last Friday. The lightly-raced Seafire joins this division after finishing second a week ago while timed in 1:47 3/5 as well. Dexter Dunn drives the Brian Brown trainee from post three.

In the Graduate finale on the card (race 12), No Control (Stratton, post four) looks to build on his 29-1 upset last week for trainer Tan Micallef. He'll be tested here from first leg winners Seven Colors (Dunn, post two) and Huntinthelastdolar (Yannick Gingras, post six) as well as Ken Hanover (Miller, post three), who was compromised by an outside post most recently.

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The top 10 in each Graduate division will return on July 6 at the Meadowlands for a pair of $250,000 (Est.) finals.

Trotting mares also compete on the card in race eight, the third leg of the Miss Versatility. With the winners of both opening legs - M-M's Dream and Call Me Goo - not entered, Saturday's contest looks like a wide-open affair.

Post time at the Meadowlands on Saturday is 6:20 P.M. (EDT).