His driver claimed he had to shake off some cobwebs, but it didn’t appear that way in the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands, a $22,500 high-end conditioned pace, as Dexter Dunn guided Mac’s Delight to victory lane in 1:51.1 ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- April, 5, 2025 -- His driver claimed he had to shake off some cobwebs, but it didn’t appear that way in the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands, a $22,500 high-end conditioned pace, as Dexter Dunn guided Mac’s Delight to victory lane in 1:51.1.
“I’m a bit rusty, but picked some good ones tonight and they did the job,” said Dunn, who took home the trophy for the Dan Patch Driver of the Year for the fifth time in six years at the conclusion of 2024, of his two-winner night in his first night back driving after a four-month vacation.
Things panned out rather well for Dunn and Mac’s Delight, who delivered for the chalk players as the 3-5 public choice.
Primary Colors blasted away from the gate to grab the lead around the first turn. Captain Crusader A was right with the leader while 5-2 second choice Southwind Gendry made his way toward the lead racing on the rim. Mac’s Delight found a comfy spot in the four-hole as Captain Crusader A hit the quarter in :27.2.
In search of a third straight score, Southwind Gendry made the top just after the three-eighths and reached the half in a rated :56.3, but he couldn’t deal with Primary Colors, who popped out of three-hole and sprinted past Southwind Gendry in a flash as Mac’s Delight followed incredibly live cover. Primary Colors had the lead on the far turn and was timed at three-quarters in 1:24.4, but Dunn must have loved his chances from there as the leader gave way in mid-stretch as he steered Mac’s Delight to an easy 2-length win for trainer Tom Cancelliere. Primary Colors held second with Surfside Beach third.
“It was a good drive to pick up,” said Dunn. “Obviously, he’s in good form and we got out of there pretty well and got a good helmet to follow around that last turn. It worked out perfect.”
Mac’s Delight registered his 17th lifetime victory from 52 starts while upping his lifetime earnings to $269,973 for owner John Cancelliere. He paid $3.40 to win.
A ‘COLOUR’-FUL WIN: Making his pari-mutuel debut on American soil, Irish-import Always B Colour IR thrilled his legions of fans with an easy wire-to-wire win in the fifth race, and in the process, became the fastest pinto horse in history after stopping the clock in 1:52.
A pinto is “a horse or pony of various breeding that is marked with patches of white and another color”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, but the definition doesn’t do justice to just how striking one of these horses are once one sees them up close.
Driver Lauren Tritton blasted away from the gate with the 4-year-old son of Always B Miki-Mamma Said on the way to a 2½-length score. The winner is trained by Lauren’s husband, Shane.
A LITTLE MORE: Jason Bartlett led the driver colony with three victories on the card to get back within six winners of Brett Beckwith, who leads the Big M standings with 51 walks down victory lane. … Michael Posner and Jeff Cullipher each had a pair of victories to top the trainers. … There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of just over $5,000 for Friday night. Winner’s odds for the sequence were 4-1, 2-1, 3-5, 5-1, 3-5 and 47-1/32-1. Those with five correct collected $30.34. … All-source handle on the 14-race card totaled $3,186,996. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.
