PERFECT STING REBOUNDS, ‘FIRE START’ SCORES IN TOMPKINS-GEERS
By Frank and Ray Cotolo, for The Meadowlands
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ— In no rush to lead leaving from post 8, favorite Perfect Sting and driver David Miller relaxed until the stretch of the $78,700 Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings at The Meadowlands to win in 1:49 on Saturday (July 31).
There was not a lot of action to the half as 43-1 Gamblin Mo rode the pegs to take the lead and cut a :26.4 first quarter, followed by Toronto and Highlandsbeachsbest, who chased in line to a :54.4 half.
Coming to three-quarters in 1:22.2, Whichwaytothebeach came first over to challenge the leading longshot while Perfect Sting followed second over. When the field hit the straightaway, Whichwaytothebeach was pacing a direct path to the finish line, but Perfect Sting was full of pace in the middle of the track and passed under minimal urging to glide home first by two lengths. Whichwaytothebeach, the public’s second choice, finished second in a photo with Highlandbeachsbest while Toronto took fourth.
“Tonight we wanted him to finish up really good, so the opportunity was to get in the hole,” Miller said after the race. “And I had a good horse to follow, so that’s what we did. I was real happy with him. He paced really good; he fired really good through the stretch. That’s something we were looking for.”
Joe Holloway trains Perfect Sting, a son of Always B Miki and the beaten favorite in the clamorous Meadowlands Pace, for owners and breeders Brittany Farms LLC and Val D’Or Farms. His earnings rose to $841,577 with the win, his third in five starts this season. He paid $2.40 to win.
Fire Start Hanover successfully downed 2-5 favorite Test Of Faith in a neck-and-neck stretch drive to hand the champion filly her first defeat of the season when winning the $62,800 Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old pacing fillies in 1:49.
Dexter Dunn landed Fire Start Hanover in fourth when leaving from post 9 while Test Of Faith, starting from the second tier, tracked her stablemate Staycation Hanover into the first turn to settle into fifth. Passing a :26.4 first quarter, Dunn sent Fire Start Hanover for the lead, with Test Of Faith in tow, and cleared before a :55.2 half.
Into the far turn, Fire Start Hanover begrudgingly yielded the lead to Test Of Faith, but Dunn began to light a fire under the champion filly as he gradually floated his charge from the pocket past three-quarters in 1:22. Once straightening for the finish, Test Of Faith fought gamely to keep Fire Start Hanover at bay, but the Richard “Nifty” Norman trainee nonetheless powered past in the final strides to win by a neck at the beam. Off The Record finished third while Classicist closed for fourth.
“We had to push her out pretty hard to clear a few outside of us, [but] she got out of the gate good though,” Dunn said after the race. “I could feel David [Miller] starting to edge [out] there past the quarter, so we made our move and he came with us. She’s pretty versatile. She really swelled up when I let David go and she was ready to rock, so I kept her on the helmet round the turn and she did the rest on the straight.”
Last year’s Dan Patch 2-Year-Old of the Year, Fire Start Hanover has now won 10 races from 17 starts and banked $678,432 for owners Pinske Stables, David Hoese and Lawrence Means. The Sombeachsomewhere filly paid $7.20 to win.
