Meadowlands: William Haughton Memorial thriller goes to McWicked

McWicked sat outside the whole way, but he came off cover in the lane, and out-fought a game Filibuster Hanover to win the $471,100 William R. Haughton Memorial on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. The final time was 2:02 2/5 for the mile and an eighth distance.

With post five in the field of 12, McWicked left a bit for Brian Sears, but no holes became available, so he just sat on the outside in sixth to the 25 4/5 opening quarter, which was put on the board by Rockin Ron (Louis-Philippe Roy). Sintra (Jody Jamieson) was third at that point, but he moved to the lead past that marker.

Sintra would go on to reach the half in 55 seconds, and Check Six (Joe Bongiorno) pulled first-up from fourth going to that station, with McWicked second-over, although gapped back a bit. Things remained the same to the 1:22 4/5 three-quarters, but McWicked had caught up the to the cover and looked poised to strike.

In the lane McWicked fanned out three-high, and Filibuster Hanover (Yannick Gingras), who had been on the rail in the three-hole, found room up the inside. They were both surging to the 1:49 2/5 mile marker, and their duel continued to the wire, but McWicked went on to win by half a length. Filibuster Hanover broke stride just before the wire, but he didn't violate any breaking rules, so he was allowed to keep that spot. Rockin Ron was third, All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) fourth, and Check Six fifth, giving Ron Burke the second-fifth place finishers.

"I was just trying to get him some place in the hunt early and get in some type of flow, not get pushed down to the rail or something like that," Sears remarked. "The horse has been super sharp the last few starts. I was just hoping to get some kind of trip, and it worked out great. Filibuster Hanover was digging pretty good on the inside, but my horse, he kicked it in right through the wire. He was very sharp. He's a sweet horse. He's so easy to drive, and he gives you everything he's got."

Casie Coleman trains McWicked, a 7-year-old McArdle stallion, for owner Ed James and his S S G Stables. This was McWicked's 27th career victory, and he has now put away $2,881,912. He was the 4-5 favorite and returned $3.60 to win.

"This horse, every single time he races is absolutely unbelievable," said Coleman. "He gives everything he's got every time he's on the track. He's just a pleasure of a horse. He comes back on Hambletonian Day for the Sam McKee Memorial. I don't know if I'm going to race him once at Mohawk or not. He's going to go back to Toronto tomorrow. We'll refresh him and then he'll be back here in three weeks."