Lucky Jim holds on to win Su Mac Lad final

The $125,000 Su Mac Lad final was a nail biter to the finish as Lucky Jim narrowly held off Arch Madness to win the richest of three stakes races Friday night at Meadowlands Racetrack. 

 

Starting from the outside post, Lucky Jim worked his way to the top in a :27.1 opening quarter and lengthened his lead when In Focus broke stride behind him. With the pocket sitter out of the way, Enough Talk closed the gap from third and angled out to attack Lucky Jim as they made their way into the far turn. Enough Talk faded at the top of the stretch, but Lucky Jim was faced with another challenger as Arch Madness came roaring off the pylons. The two horses slugged it out to the wire, with Lucky Jim digging in under driver Andy Miller’s urging to hold off Arch Madness by a neck in 1:51.1.  Enough Talk finished three lengths behind them in third.

 

"I was just going to leave the gate pretty hard and try to put him into the race,” Miller said of his strategy. “I thought it would be a battle like it’s been the last two weeks. Ronnie (Pierce and Enough Talk) popped the pocket a little past the half and we had to race around the turn pretty good. ([Lucky Jim) went a very game mile. I heard Arch Madness coming and Lucky Jim just dug in. I think he’s as good or better than he was at four, but Enough Talk and Arch Madness have come back good, so it’s going to be an interesting year.”

 

“He was super,” driver Brian Sears said of runner-up Arch Madness. “He’s coming around good. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Lucky Jim, who went a great mile. We were coming at him and he raced really tough.”

 

Lucky Jim paid $3 as he posted his third win in four starts this season for trainer Julie Miller. The 2009 Older Trotter of the Year won 17 of 18 races during his extraordinary campaign last year. David and John Prushnok and William Gregg own the 5-year-old son of SJ’s Photo-Hawaiian Sierra who now has 22 career victories and $1,289,321 in earnings to his credit. (Meadowlands)