Meadowlands: Sutton scores in Shiaway St. Pat Series final

Sutton, the third-place finisher in the Hambletonian two years ago, continued his comeback after missing his entire 4-year-old season by winning Friday night's $52,500 final of the Shiaway St. Pat Series at the Meadowlands in 1:53 1/5.

Driven by Andy Miller, Sutton, who won last week's second leg of the series in a sparkling 1:51 3/5, settled in fourth and watched as Elysium Lindy (Andrew McCarthy), Opulent Yankee (Jim Marohn Jr.), and Perseverance (David Miller) all took a turn on the lead. Sutton then made his move past the 27 4/5 opening quarter, touching down on the front steps before the 55 3/5 half went on the board.

With a first-up LMC Mass Gem (Corey Callahan) only able to get side-by-side with the pocketed Perseverance around the final bend, Andy Miller was able to steal Sutton a breather in the third quarter, getting to three-quarters in just 1:24 2/5. With that rating in the bank, Sutton kicked away from his rivals in upper stretch and went on to win by about two lengths over Deep Impact (Ake Svanstedt), who was stuck on the poor cover second-over. Perseverance wound up finishing third.

A 5-year-old Donato Hanover stallion, Sutton is trained by Julie Miller for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jason Allen, and Douglas Allen. This was his ninth career victory, and he has now banked $475,263. He was sent off as the even-money favorite and returned $4.20 to win.

“He had a solid mile last week (when he won leg two of the series),” said Julie Miller. “Right now, we have all of his issues under control.”

--quote courtesy of the Meadowlands--