Northfield: Streaking Sabonis scores again in Carl Milstein Memorial

Sabonis and driver Joey Putnam rallied sharply from off-the-pace to sweep to victory in the $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial at MGM Northfield Park on Saturday night. The Indiana-bred son of Tellitlikeitis was making his first career start on a half mile track and acted like a pro, winning for the eighth consecutive time with a 1:50 3/5 mile time.

The action was fast and furious at the outset, with Timeisonemyside and Anthony MacDonald leaving alertly from the pole position and favored Wish You Well and David Miller squeezing into the pocket on the first turn. Longshot Paris's Dragon, driven by Dan Noble, was the only other horse in the field to leave the gate, and Noble insisted on getting the front. Timeisonmyside and Paris's Dragon dueled bitterly through the 25 4/5 first quarter before Noble relented and took a tuck in second.

Timeisonmyside was able to slow the pace some in the second quarter, but the 54 1/5 half kept the field stretched out. Moving into the third turn Putnam had Sabonis on the move, but he would wait for cover to develop in the form of Wish You Well and Noblesville. Wish You Well was able to gain traction on the backstretch and pick up ground on the pace-setter, but Putnam and Sabonis were somewhat stymied when Noblesville couldn’t keep with cover on the backstretch as the field blitzed three-quarters in an eye-catching 1:21 4/5 with Timeisonmyside still in control.

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By the final turn Wish You Well had gained equal terms with the leader, but Sabonis and Putnam were in high gear, sweeping wide through the final turn and charging boldly through the stretch. The Aaron Stutzman-trained colt hit high gear and flew across the wire to win impressively. Timeisonmyside held firmly through the stretch to out-photo Wish You Well for the place spot. Sweet Beach Life was mired in traffic through the stretch and squeezed through late to finish fourth.

"The horse was awesome," said Putnam in the winner's circle. "Going into the final turn I thought we might get there."

Owned by Pat Miller, Sabonis was a winner for the 11th time in 12 starts as a sophomore this season. He returned $6.00 as the second choice. Sabonis is out of the Roll With Joe-sired dam Gypsy Bellevue.