Meadowlands: Wild Honey wins Hambletonian Oaks
As if to thank trainer Jimmy Takter for letting him off his Hambletonian heat winner Pinkman driver Yannick Gingras came through in a big way in capturing the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands with Wild Honey. The 6-5 favorite was able to rate the pace to her liking and then had enough in reserve to score in 1:52 2/5.
It was déjà vu for Takter and Gingras having set the stakes record a year earlier with Lifetime Pursuit. This year Takter’s charge left the gate well before yielding to Rules Of The Road through the :27 opening quarter. Gingras regained past the quarter and was able to stroll to a :56 1/5 opening half. Last week’s Oaks elimination winner Lock Down Lindy made a miscue approaching the half leaving Gingras with the power to continue to back down the action. Bright Baby Blues and David Miller came up without cover but hardly applied much pressure through a :29 third quarter.
In the stretch Wild Honey sprinted a final quarter of :27 1/5 and was well clear at the wire. Rules Of The Road gamely held on for the for the place with Bright Baby Blues finishing third.
Owned by Christina Takter, John Fielding, Jim Fielding and Herb Liverman, Wild Honey won for the 13th time in 19 career starts and pushed a career bankroll to $838,488.
“I’ve been trying to win this race for 25 years,” said co-owner John Fielding following the race.
“She had a lot to overcome. She may be small but she’s got a big heart,” said Jimmy Takter, the winning trainer.
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