The Meadows: Racing Hill awesome in Adios triumph

Despite being parked the entire 25 2/5 first quarter and blasting through a 52 1/5 half, Racing Hill pulled away in the final quarter to an authoritative and convincing 1:48 4/5 victory in the 50th edition of the $400,000 Coors Delvin Miller Adios for 3-year-old colt pacers on Saturday afternoon at The Meadows.

Check Six (Yannick Gingras) got the jump on Racing Hill (Brett Miller) early, and with Check Six's Ron Burke stablemate Manhattan Beach (Matt Kakaley) getting away second, Racing Hill was forced to drive on on the outside through the 25 2/5 opening quarter over a track rated sloppy and a second off. Racing Hill finally cleared as they raced through the stretch for the first time, but the half popped up on the board in an incredible 52 1/5.

"From the get-go, the race wasn't going the way I wanted it to," Miller said after the race. "I was hoping for a few other people to leave up against the two Burke horses that I thought would be leaving. When they didn't I kind of started shooting for a three-hole, and it wasn't really there. To be honest with you when we came around this first turn, I said to myself, 'we're in trouble.'

"It felt like we were going fast. I didn't think we were going that fast. When the timer flashed up I wanted to throw up."

With first-over challenger Another Daily Copy (Tony Hall) unable to mount a serious challenge in the backstretch, Racing Hill was able to get a bit of a third quarter breather, getting to three-quarters in 1:20 3/5. Then, in a flash, Racing Hill began to open up on Check Six around the final bend and into the stretch. With Miller just rocking in the bike through the drive, Racing Hill kept going, winning the race by 2 1/4 lengths over Check Six. Fernando Hanover (Tim Tetrick), another Burke entrant, was up for third, ahead of Manhattan Beach and Burke pupil More Dragon (Dave Palone).

"Thank God this horse is just razor-sharp," Miller added. "I don't know if I've ever seen a horse go 52 1/5 and then start pulling away around the top of the stretch. He was just amazing today. When I pulled his earplugs in the last turn he took back off. That was just amazing. (trainer Tony Alagna) has done some kind of job with this horse. Horses don't do that; that was incredible."

Racing Hill is a Roll With Joe homebred colt for owner Tom Hill. Racing Hill scored his ninth win overall and his fourth win of the season, and he has now earned $970,028 lifetime. The 2-5 favorite, Racing Hill paid $2.80 to win.

"You never want to see your horse stung 25 2/5. By the time they get to the front you hope they get a little bit of a breather," Alagna offered. "When it flashed up 52 1/5, of course I'm concerned, but I'm a big believer in watching a driver's body language in the bike, and you could tell by the way Brett was sitting in the bike that he felt he had plenty left, and the horse responded. I couldn't be more pleased with the horse and the effort today.

"Just an unbelievable feeling to see the horse fight and do what he did today. That horse has shown all year even if he does get stung a little bit early, he's still got something left in the tank late."

Alagna said that Racing Hill will be skipping the Cane Pace on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands and will be pointed toward the Battle of the Brandywine at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on August 20.