JL Cruze continues to dominate

JL Cruze (Crazed) rolled to his third consecutive harness racing victory against Open trotters at Bally’s Dover on Tuesday night, January 17, 2023.

JL Cruze and driver Art Stafford, Jr. were first away from the gate in the $25,000 feature and outsprinted the 1/2 betting favorite Lexus Kody trotting to the first turn. Lexus Kody then made a devastating break before the quarter and never recovered.

JL Cruze hammered out fractions of :27.2, :56.3 (29.1) and 1:25 (28.2). Inaminute Hanover, braved a first-over move down the backstretch, but that bid stalled.

12-year-old JL Cruze, “the old man” as trainer Eric Ell calls him, was in cruise control the entire mile and drew off in the stretch. Northern Express raced from the pocket but was unable to gain any ground for the second consecutive week against JL Cruze.

JL Cruze won under wraps in 1:53.4 by a length and three quarters.  He paid $10.20 to win. He is owned by W. Kenneth Wood, W. J Dittmar Jr. and SJ Iaquinta. The win put JL Cruze over $1.8 million in lifetime earnings.

Northern Express was second for trainer Arty Foster Jr. Russell Foster drove. Inaminute Hanover finished third for trainer Jake Huff.  Allan Davis picked up the catch drive.

JL CRUZE REPLAY

The 12th race feature on Wednesday night is the Mares Winners Over/ Select Handicap Pace.  Divine Deo takes on Shanghai Seelster, Beyond Words N and Shes Pukka N.

Art Stafford Jr tallied 3 driving wins on the betting card.

Racing continues on Wednesday at Bally’s Dover. Post Time is 4:30 pm.

For complete race results, click here.

by Alex Kraszewski, for Bally’s Dover