R DUTCHESS WIRE-TO-WIRE IN BIG M FEATURE
R Dutchess rebounded from a neck loss in her seasonal debut one week ago with a wire-to-wire score in the Friday night feature at The Meadowlands, a $17,500 high-end conditioned trot ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- June 20, 2025 -- R Dutchess rebounded from a neck loss in her seasonal debut one week ago with a wire-to-wire score in the Friday night feature at The Meadowlands, a $17,500 high-end conditioned trot.
The 3-year-old daughter of Father Patrick-The Ice Dutchess was permitted to cut sleepy fractions of :29.3, :58.3 and 1:26.3 racing on the front end after an alert getaway from post six in the seven-horse field, which left plenty in the tank for the stretch drive as the John Butenschoen trainee sprinted her final quarter in :26.2 to record a somewhat nerve-racking head win over a fast-closing, pocket-sitting Voguish. Greenma was third. The time for the mile was 1:53.
“She did what we asked her to do,” said winning driver Tim Tetrick. “There was no pressure tonight. We are just trying to get her ready for the big events. We put her on the front and did what we had to do.
“These are building blocks for bigger races. It was a good effort and she held on. She’s one of the better fillies out there. She’s got high speed. Hopefully, on Hambo Day [in the Hambletonian Oaks], she sets up and she’s good and we have a good shot at it.”
R Dutchess won for the fourth time in 14 lifetime tries while lifting her lifetime earnings to $185,060. She returned $2.40 to win as the 1-5 favorite.
KERN COLLECTS FIRST PLACE: Del Kern and Gary Scogna both hit big early – by having winning tickets on the 20-cent Pick-5 – and held on by a considerable margin to take first- and second-place, respectively, in the sixth edition of the 2025 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest, which goes for cash prizes totaling $1,000.
Kern finished the night with a bankroll of 1,902.42, which earned him the first prize of $500, while Scogna tallied $1,342.42, to take home $250.
The duo have now earned entry into the year-end invitational contest, which takes place on Dec. 13. That competition will be limited to 22 players vying for $10,000 in cash prizes. Scogna is in good shape, as he’s now earned two entries into the year-end competition.
CARRYOVER CRAZE: A carryover of $22,989 motivated players to wager $146,173 of “new money” into the 20-cent Pick-5 pool. There were more than a few winning ticket-holders that shared in the total pool of $169,162, as after a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 9-1, 2-1, 1-2 2-1 and 29-1, the payout was $1,937.02.
There will be more carryover fun heading into Saturday, as no one cashed on the 20-cent Pick-6. That sequence saw winner’s go off at 7-5, 2-1, 10-1, 6-5, 47-1 and 6-5, creating a carryover of $5,979. Those with five correct collected $38.04.
The Pick-6 is offered nightly on races eight through 13. Free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.
A LITTLE MORE: Johnathan Ahle and Vinny Ginsburg led the driver colony with two winners each. … Louisville GB rallied from third-over to take the $17,500 pacing feature for fillies and mares for driver Andy McCarthy and trainer Robert Cleary in 1:50.2 as the 2-1 public choice. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,591,954. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
