Arch Madness romps in Cutler final

Arch Madness moved to the lead past the opening quarter and cruised home to a stakes record 1:51 victory in the $220,00 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial for trotters Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack. He also upset Lucky Jim, who finished second but was 4 1/2 lengths back at the wire.

 

Arch Madness and driver Brian Sears blasted out from post six and got the jump on Lucky Jim as they gunned to the lead after the :27 opening quarter set by Corleone Kosmos. Never challenged, Sears and Arch Madness breezed through middle fractions of :55.4 and 1:24.1, and drew off to a 4 1-2-length margin.

 

Forced to race first-over, Lucky Jim never entered contention and finished a distanced second. In Focus held his ground to finish third.

 

Arch Madness paid $6.80 to win the Cutler Memorial, raced in honor of the late New York City restaurateur whose legacy includes Carmine’s, Virgil’s Real BBQ, Artie’s Delicatessen and Gabriela’s.

 

“The post definitely played quite a part in my strategy,” said winning driver Brian Sears. “It was nice to draw inside of Lucky Jim [who had post seven]. I was looking for [Lucky Jim] and he wasn’t right at me so I felt pretty good about that when I started trotting around the turn. He was on idle all the way down the lane. The horse is just really, really sharp. Last week I told Trond [trainer Smedshammer] he hasn’t been that sharp since he won the Breeders Crown as a 3-year-old.”

 

Arch Madness notched his first win in five starts this season. Lifetime, the 6-year-old gelding now sports a record of 18 victories from 54 starts and a $2,381,620 bankroll. Trond Smedshammer trains the son of Balanced Image for Marc Goldberg of Woodmere, NY and Willow Pond of Hewlett, NY. (Meadowlands)