‘COMMANDER KODY’ WINS THIRD STRAIGHT AT BIG M
Lexus Kody had yet another dominant performance in the weekly featured $27,500 winners-over trot at The Meadowlands, notching his third straight victory in much-the-best fashion Friday night ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- April 26, 2024 -- Lexus Kody had yet another dominant performance in the weekly featured $27,500 winners-over trot at The Meadowlands, notching his third straight victory in much-the-best fashion Friday night.
“He’s super-sharp right now,” said winning driver Yannick Gingras. “When he’s like this, he can go some big miles.”
Looking to lead at every call as he had in his prior two starts, Gingras had Lexus Kody on the go from post six in the six-horse field and found himself extremely wide into the first turn.
“It doesn’t matter to him,” said Gingras. “He doesn’t need to be on the front. I just figured at 1-5, I wanted to stay out of trouble.”
Being pushed wide provided no problem for the 6-year-old gelded son of Archangel-Lexus Helios, who made the point before completing the first turn as his Ron Burke-stablemate Chapercraz settled into the pocket.
In a race devoid of thrills, Lexus Kody cut out fractions of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:24 before sprinting home in :26.4 to safely hold off Chapercraz, who was solid late to miss by three-quarters-of-a-length. Interview Fra A, seeking a fourth-straight win while bumping up in class, grabbed the show dough. The time for the mile was 1:50.4.
Throughout his career, Lexus Kody has had breaking problems from time to time, but lately he’s kept his mind – as well as his stride – on point.
“He got back to his old antics at the end of last year,” said Gingras. “But this horse has crazy ability. If he just minds his manners, he can go with a lot of the good ones. He never gets tired.”
In winning for the 21st time from just 53 lifetime outings, Lexus Kody – who returned $2.40 to win – upped his lifetime earnings to $414,402 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and P. Collura.
A LITTLE MORE: Dave Miller guided three winners on the night to up his 2024 driver dash-win total to 57, which is tops at The Big M. Andy McCarthy is a distant second with 36. … Maria Reid led the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane. … The track debuted its new two 20-cent Pick-5 format. The first of the two wagers took in $65,986 in the first race, while the second – which begins in race eight – saw $41,224 pushed through the windows. … All-source betting on the 14-race card totaled $2,947,172. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
