$192,000 NJSS Final won off three-wide move

Reckless Abandon (Cattlewash) and harness racing driver Todd McCarthy put on a bit of show in capturing the 6^th race $192,000 Final of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies Friday (Aug. 2) at The Meadowlands.

Worklifebalance (Dexter Dunn) was first on the lead with Bequeath (Scott Zeron) in the pocket to the quarter in :27. Zeron then came right back with Bequeath to cut the mile to the half in :56.

Then in the backstretch it was TH Summer Lovin (Tim Tetrick) coming first-over with 1/9 race favorite Reckless Abandon second-over. The outside flow wasn’t fast enough so McCarthy sent Reckless Abandon three-wide by the three-quarters in 1:24.2.

Reckless Abandon blew by everyone and was up by three lengths at the top of the stretch and kept on cruising to win by four and one-quarter lengths in 1:51.3. Worklifebalance was second with Beach Babe (Yannick Gingras) third.

RECKLESS ABANDON REPLAY

It was a lifetime mark and the third straight win for Reckless Abandon. The homebred filly is trained by Brett Pelling for W J Donovan and Donal Murphy, both of whom bred her. Donovan also owns and raced the filly’s sire, Cattlewash. She paid just $2.10 across the board.

The 4^th race was the $50,000 Muscle Hill Trot for three-year-olds and getting a perfect two-hole trip to the winner’s circle was Victor Laszlo (Chapter Seven).

Race favorite Bryant Bros S (Tim Tetrick) was first on the lead from post seven with Victor Laszlo and driver Mark MacDonald grabbing the two-hole trip by the quarter mile in :28. Bryant Bros S led to the half in :56.4 and the three-quarters in 1:25.4 as Greenspan (Dexter Dunn) came first-over to challenge, giving live cover to Thinker Monkey (Scott Zeron).

By the top of the stretch, Victor Laszlo was able to shake loose and came after Bryant Bros S, whom they passed in the stretch and then held off a major late charge by Thinker Monkey to win by a neck in 1:53.4. Bryant Bros S was third.

VICTOR LASZLO REPLAY

It was a lifetime mark and the fifth win this year for Victor Laszlo. The colt is trained by Ray Schnittker and owned by Schnittker Arnold, Paul Bordogna, Ted Gewertz and Arden Homestead Stable. He paid $11.20 to win.

The 10th race $240,000 NJSS Final for two-year-old pacing colts and the reminder of the race card was canceled due to lighting issues on the racetrack.

First race post time on Hambletonian Day is 12:00 noon. For a free race program, click here.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink