What is there to say about last night's Meadowlands Pace? This was perhaps the most dominating effort ever seen in the Meadowlands Pace. For Well Said, it was more like a time trial; the others were racing for second. After floating on the outside to let the field settle down, Well said easily got to the lead. Once he reached the lead, it was a race against the clock.
The fractions for the race were amazing: 26.1 53.4 1:20.2 1:47.3. Other than one crack of the whip against the wheel disc in the stretch (Well Said has a habit of slowing down to wait for the other horses) Well Said did this all on his own without urging. If this race was held on Hambo Day, Well Said would probably be waking up as the fastest pacer of all time.
Some people are claiming Well Said is better than Somebeachsomewhere based on his Meadowlands Pace victory (something SBSW did not do). While Well Said appears to be at a peak right now, there is no comparison; Somebeachsomewhere and Niatross are in a league of their own. Each of them were undefeated as 2 year olds and Niatross lost two races as a three year old (once he fell over the rail) with Somebeachsomewhere losing only one race. Well Said won four starts of twelve starts as a two year old. In addition, Niatross and SBSW dominated on all size tracks; Well Said has not raced on the half mile track. Let's just enjoy this super horse for what he is.
Last night was the first time there was not a Meadowlands Pace consolation race as not enough elimination entrants entered. Instead, a $50,000 three year old open was carded. No, the lack of a consolation race is not a sign of the ongoing problems with getting horses to race at the Meadowlands, it is due to the Adios eliminations being raced this week. The Adios which traditionally been raced the second week of August has been moved up due to the Hambletonian final being moved.
Lost in the Meadowlands Pace frenzy is the amazing fifteen race win streak by Lucky Jim. Lucky Jim won an elimination of the Maple Leaf Trot last night at Mohawk Raceway in 1:51.4. This was the fastest of the three eliminations raced. It will be interesting to see how Lucky Jim does next week in the final as he will be racing against Copenhagen Cup victor Triton Sund who finished second in his elimination. Being this was Triton Sund's first start after being in quarantine I expect him to be a threat next week. This promises to be an exciting race. Make sure to catch the final next week.
Here is Triton Sund's effort in the Copenhagen Cup:
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