Favorites win Adios elimination races
Fear the Dragon won an Adios elimination race Saturday at The Meadows.
Huntsville won an Adios elimination race Saturday at The Meadows.
MEADOW LANDS – Not even a daylong dose of heavy clouds and rain could stop the dream matchup from happening for Saturday’s 51st Adios at The Meadows Racetrack.
Huntsville and Fear The Dragon, two of the top 3-year-olds in the country, won their elimination races Saturday afternoon and will square off in the $400,000 Delvin Miller Pace for the Orchids next weekend.
But it didn’t come easy.
Huntsville, the Meadowlands Pace winner, won by a neck in the ninth race after holding the lead from the 3/8ths pole and finishing in 1:49.3. Blood Line, coming off a seventh-place finish in the Meadowlands Pace, was second; and Miso Fast, one of six Ron Burke entries over the two eliminations, crossed third. The fourth, and final, race qualifier for the Adios was RJP, another Burke horse with Yannick Gingras driving.
The top four horses in each elimination, and the fifth-place finisher with the highest career earnings, advanced to the final.
“My horse is in the final and I got it done,” said Tim Tetrick, who drove Huntsville. “I hope we didn’t take too much out of him. I was trying to save as much as I could. That’s why I didn’t open it up.”
Huntsville was pressured inside and out for much of the race to slow him.
“When you go a half in 53 (seconds), you are always concerned,” Tetrick said. “It’s not really what I wanted to do. I thought I was going to get a spot during the first turn but it closed up.”
Burke said he felt Miso Fast, winning last in the Hempt eliminations in June, has more to offer.
“I was a little disappointed in Miso Fast with that trip,” Burke said. “I thought he should have at least been second and maybe push the other horse.”
Fear The Dragon, the North America Cup champion, hit a higher gear down the stretch, crossing in 1:50.3 with the urging of driver David Miller. Western Hill, with Dave Palone in the sulky, was second in 1:50.5 and Eddard Hanover, a Ron Burke entry, was third. The fourth qualifier was Hurricane Beach, a 20-1 longshot.
“You saw David. He was chasing. He was working to make him go,” said Brian Brown, Fear The Dragon’s trainer. “He was a little short. He needed this race. We’ll check everything out. … and fix what needs fix. We’ll be back next week.”
Each elimination winner won $25,000 and the opportunity to select their posts, which will happen Tuesday afternoon at the track. Fear The Dragon and Huntsville will have the first picks, thanks to the elimination victories.
Tetrick and Palone each won four races on the card.
Western Hill gives trainer Tony Alagna a chance to win back-to-back Adios finals. His entry last year, Racing Hill, won the 2016 Pace.
The other four were Stanley Dancer (1970-71), Billy Houghton (1967, ’68 and ’69), Joe O’Brien (1975-76) and Brett Pelling (1995, ’96 and 2004, ’05).