MARYLAND MARVELOUS IN KINDERGARTEN COLT TROT FINAL
Odds-on favorite and millionaire Maryland stayed resolute under an intense far-turn blitz and emerged a 1:53.4 winner in the $173,300 Kindergarten Series Final for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Saturday (Nov. 9) at The Meadowlands ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- November 9, 2024 -- Odds-on favorite and millionaire Maryland stayed resolute under an intense far-turn blitz and emerged a 1:53.4 winner in the $173,300 Kindergarten Series Final for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Saturday (Nov. 9) at The Meadowlands.
Leaving from post 2, driver Dexter Dunn floated Maryland into a gap to race fourth to a :28.2 first quarter and waited to make his move. With the tempo slowing to the backside, Dunn pulled from the pylons and punched forward to seize the lead after a :58.1 half.
Monserrate, tracking Maryland’s sweep, stayed aggressive on the rim and pushed to eye Maryland through the turn. The pair motored in lockstep past three-quarters in 1:26.2 and stayed sparring on the spin for home. Monserrate downed Maryland by a head early stretch, but Dunn simply raised the whip and held snug lines on his charge in the battle to the finish. Maryland repelled Monserrate and edged away to a half-length win with Durante Hanover, off a ground-saving trip, finishing third and Uno closing from near last for fourth.
“He fights horses off; he’s a real racehorse,” Dexter Dunn said after the race. “He showed his quality in his last two starts – the Breeders Crown – and tonight: a will to win. It’s a great quality to have in a champion horse.
“Dave [Miller]’s horse [Monserrate] put up a great fight,” Dunn also said. “My fella, he knew how to win and he wanted to win. I just wanted to get around that last turn safely, but he showed why he’s a champion trotting colt this year.”
A colt by Chapter Seven out of the Father Patrick mare Crucial, Maryland competes for owners Courant Inc., PCW Racing, Holly Lane Stud East Ltd. and S. Stewart R. Thorn Stable. He has now won six races from nine starts and banked $1,227,696, placing him shy of T C I’s single-season earnings record for 2-year-old trotting colts as well as near the all-time earnings record for a trotting 2-year-old set by Snow White back in 2007 when she accrued $1,252,646.
Off the 1-9 favorite, Maryland paid $2.20 to win.
