Volume Eight makes noise in $268,180 Kindergarten Final

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Volume Eight (Chapter Seven) and harness racing driver Andy McCarthy trounced nine of his peers in a blowout victory of the $268,180 Kindergarten Classic Final for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Saturday night (Nov. 12) at The Meadowlands.

The time for the mile was 1:52, a lifetime mark that was one-fifth off the track record set by Don’t Let’em in 2018.

McCarthy sat in fourth with Volume Eight as the field left the gate with Up Your Deo, Some Kinda Crazy and Purple Lord before him. Early shuffling resulted from a :27 first quarter as Purple Lord took the overland route to get the top only to lose it quickly to Volume Eight, who surged around him past a :55.4 half and approaching the turn to begin his dominant performance.

Volume Eight cut three-quarters in 1:25, making his foes breathless in the stretch as he ate real estate to break the beam at 1:52 and win by 8-1/4 lengths. Purple Lord struggled but kept the second spot while Some Kinda Crazy dug in wide to settle for third and Southwind Admiral took fourth.

VOLUME EIGHT REPLAY

The blowout for Volume Eight followed a fierce effort in a Kindergarten prelim last week where he recovered from a first turn break and recouped double-digit lengths to win in 1:55.3.

“Two starts before last, we launched him pretty good, so I think he had that in his mind, and I was trying to teach him something,” Andy McCarthy said of the colt’s break in his last start. “He had other things in mind. I was trying to make him do something he didn’t want to do, and he made a little miscue, but he’s classy enough to catch himself back and get it done. He’s pretty slick, as you’d seen tonight.

“I had him in a headlock the whole way down the stretch,” McCarthy also said on the colt’s effort Saturday. “He was wanting to go a little more. He’s still got another race left, so I was trying to save a little bit. He wants to do his job, that’s for sure.”

Noel Daley trains Volume Eight, who has now earned $234,536 by winning his fourth in a row. Daley co-owns the colt with Sjoblom Racing, Joe Sbrocco, LA Express and JAF Racing and Mario Mazza. He paid $3.20 to win.

Andy McCarthy also said after the race that Volume Eight’s next race will be in the Valley Victory, which is part of the Fall Final Four on TVG Finals night at The Meadowlands on Saturday, Nov. 26.

For complete race results, click here.

by Frank Cotolo, for The Meadowlands