Fox Valley Appeal wins

Fox Valley Appeal [$16.60, $9.60, $3.80] rocketed off the cover of Real Mean Art in the stretch and charged home in 1:51.3 to win the first of two $35,000 Aquarius Series divisions on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. A second Aquarius division went to Royal Man, who won in 1:51.3 over Woodbine's Willowdale Series champion Mister Big.

Driven by Cat Manzi, Fox Valley Appeal held off the pocketsitter Tuffofthetoughest [$15.00, $4.20] for a three-quarter-length victory. It was another length and a half back to My Boy David [$2.20] in third. Sent off the 4-5 favorite, My Boy David cruised to the lead past the quarter-pole and weakened in the final strides.

Trained by Jeff Smith, Fox Valley Appeal notched his second win in three starts this season. The Sportsmaster gelding entered the Aquarius Series off a 1:56.4 victory at Yonkers on Feb. 3. At three he won six of 21 starts and swept the Junior Trendsetter Series at the Meadowlands. He is owned by Jerold Spitzberg and Robert Cohen, who race as Ribbonships of Somerset, N.J.

“I heard about his race at Yonkers and I was encouraged,” said winning driver Cat Manzi. “He worked out a good trip. He had a great finish to him."

"Cat gave him a perfect trip,” added trainer Jeff Smith. “He is a trip horse. If he is close, he loves going by other horses. He was behind Real Mean Art who brought him into the race and he exploded off cover."

The three-week Aquarius Series for four-year-old open pacers culminates in an estimated $75,000 final on Saturday, Feb. 24. (Meadowlands press release)

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