Vettel N still king of Big M claimers

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Trainer Jenn Bongiorno can’t be happy that harness racing at The Meadowlands will go dark for the next three weeks, because that means her red-hot high-priced claimer Vettel N can’t keep on winning.

Saturday night at The Big M, Vettel N won his third straight $100,000-$150,000 claiming handicap event for pacers – none as the betting favorite – after sitting a perfect pocket trip and roaring past even-money public choice Twin B Tuffenuff in deep stretch to win by a head in 1:50.2. Geez Joe was third.

“Wow! I called him the ‘King of the 100 Claimers’ before tonight and there he goes again,” said Bongiorno. “Funny thing is, we were giving him the week off as we don’t like racing horses more than three-to-four weeks in a row, but Monday morning we realized this was the last week before The Meadowlands went on break, so we said: ‘Let’s race!’.”

At the outset, the top three choices left the gate quickly and barreled into the first turn to get positioning near the front in the six-horse field. At the quarter, Vettel N led in :26.4 before Twin B Tuffenuff grabbed the top and hit the half in :54.4 as another Bongiorno trainee, 9-2 third choice Major Betts, sat in the three-hole.

Major Betts appeared on the scene first-over to challenge the leader at three-quarters (1:23.3) as Vinny Ginsburg and Vettel N sat chilly in the pocket. In mid-stretch, Major Betts flattened out, allowing Vettel N more than enough space to vacate the pocket and go on to his 33^rd career win from 126 starts. As the 3-2 second choice, Vettel N, an 8-year-old gelded son of American Ideal-Talk To Angels, returned $5.00 to his backers while upping his lifetime bankroll to $271,266 for owners JB Racing and Robert Devine.

VETTEL N REPLAY

“I am so incredibly proud of this horse,” said Bongiorno. “He’s showing everyone what we know he’s capable of doing. Huge credit goes to Vinny, who has driven this horse unbelievably in all three of his wins. It seems like he’s always in the perfect spot.”

Also on the day, the Meadowlands hosted its 6th Annual Chili Cook-off with $4,750 in prizes and entries to the International Chili Society’s 2022 World Championships up for grabs. First time cook, Vincent Chhabria of Nutley, NJ took home the $1,000 prize for his homestyle chili.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’m so glad I decided to take a chance and enter this contest. This is amazing!”

Another first time participant, Susan Vogel took home $500 for her second place finish.  Homestyle Chili World Champion, Joe Callahan took home the $250 third place prize. Chili cook-off veteran, Michael Merola of West Haven, CT took home the $1,000 grand prize for his chili verde beating out 10 other competitors in the category. Michael Freedman, a multiple WCCC final table finalist, finished in second place for his chili verde and took home $500 while Joe Callahan again took home $250 for his third place finish. Salsa made a return to the cook-off with multi-year winner David Ronge taking home the $500 top prize. The $250 People’s Choice prize went to Jarron Smith, a past cook-off winner.

All three grand prize winners also qualified for the International Chili Society’s World Championships in 2022.

“This is one of our favorite racetrack events,” said Meadowlands General Manager and COO Jason M. Settlemoir. “Each year the cook-off gets better and better.  We are looking forward to hosting a red chili event in January of next year!”

A LITTLE MORE: Victor Kirby paced the driver’s colony with three winners while Montrell Teague registered two victories. … All-source handle totaled $1,861,217. … There will be no live harness racing at The Meadowlands for the next three weeks. Racing will resume on Friday, Oct. 22 at 6:15 p.m. as the Breeders Crown comes to the Big M with eliminations both that night and the day after, Saturday, Oct. 23, which has a special post time of noon. … The Breeders Crown Finals for 2-year-olds will then take place on Friday, Oct. 29 with a post time of 6:15 p.m., and on Saturday, Oct. 30, the 3-year-olds and older horses will take center stage with another noon post. … Thoroughbred racing returns to The Big M Friday, Oct. 1 and Saturday, Oct. 2. Post time is 7 p.m.

For full race results, click here.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands