Merry Meadow surprises in Vagrancy
The Vagrancy Handicap lost two of its six entrants when Lion D N A and Mama Zee opted to run in (and win) races at Pimlico on Friday, but Merry Meadow was scratched from the Skipat and stayed home to post a convincing win over 20-1 outsider Jane of All Trades in the 64th running of the Grade 3 sprint for fillies and mares at Belmont Park.
Merry Meadow ($14), the third choice in a four-horse field, caught the unheralded Jane of All Trades in the stretch and pulled away to win by three lengths under Rajiv Maragh to post her first graded stakes victory for trainer Mark Hennig.
“We entered her at Pimlico, but we kind of wanted to run here all along because 6 ½ furlongs is better for her,” said Hennig. “If [the Vagrancy] had been a bigger field we might have gone down there, but once we saw the weather, we decided to take a shot and pick up some graded black type. We were just hoping she’d hit the board.”
Merry Meadow, a homebred 4-year-old by Henny Hughes, ran the distance in 1:17.36 on a fast track, and earned $90,000. The consistent filly improved to 5-9-4 from 20 career starts for William Parsons Jr. and David Howe.
Jane of All Trades easily saved the place by five lengths over Five Star Momma.
Kauai Katie trailed throughout at 2-5.
“She got squeezed at the start and never really fired,” said trainer Todd Pletcher.
Earlier, Green Mask ($7.40) overcame a traffic-filled trip with Irad Ortiz Jr. to prove much the best over four rivals in the $100,000 Paradise Creek Stakes for 3-year-old turf horses.
Green Mask, now 2 for 2 for trainer Christophe Clement, won by 1 ¾ lengths, and ran seven furlongs in 1:24.17 over a Widener course labeled good.
Cabo Cat trailed early and rallied to finish clearly second best over 4-5 favorite Chart Topper, who tired after setting the pace.
Mister Popsicle and Otoy completed the order of finish.