Meadowlands: You Know You Do captures Peter Haughton Memorial

Trainer Jimmy Takter sent out six of the 10 horses in the $360,650 Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old colt trotters on Saturday at the Meadowlands. Having 60 percent of the field certainly increased his odds of winning, and You Know You Do proved best of the group, scoring under a mild drive in 1:54 2/5.

Takter was actually in the bike behind Samo Different Day and set reasonable fractions of 28, 56 1/5 and 1:25 3/5 as Farsetti Hanover tracked from the pocket. It was not until almost the five-eighths that You Know You Do was edged off the pylons by driver Yannick Gingras to take aim at the leader, carrying Met’s Hall, Captain Morgan, Storming Mist and Maxus into the race via the outer flow.

Once engaging the leader, You Know You Do began to pull clear of his stablemate to win by 2-1/4 lengths at the wire. Farsetti Hanover saved third and another Takter trainee, Maxus, charged home from fifth over for fourth.

“When we got to Harrisburg we put together a group and went after him vigorously,” said Marvin Katz, speaking for the ownership group that includes him, Howard Taylor, Order By Stable, Bud Hatfield, Al Libfeld, and Sam Goldband.

You Know You Do paid $5.00 to win and picked up his third career victory in four starts. The son of Muscle Hill-You Want Me, a $350,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase last fall, immediately becomes the very early favorite for the 2018 Hambletonian.