Youth took a back seat in the $36,000 Preferred pace when 11-year-old New Zealand-expatriate Bondy N scored a 1:50.4 victory, meanwhile Higher And Higher set a track record for a female pacer and Ron Pierce struck paydirt with six winning drives to highlight Dover Downs' Monday program.
Bondy N, who crossed the Pacific less than five months ago, posted his fifth victory in 10 races this year. He held on to beat Samadar and Corey Callahan in deep stretch with last week’s winner Special T Rocks, piloted by Daryl Bier, settling for third in the week’s top event.
With all nine of his starts in the money in top class races, Harry von Knoblauch’s Peter Tritton-conditioned Bondy N, in only his 65th start, Down Under and in the U.S.A., posted his 28th lifetime victory. The altered son of Live Or Die-Killarney has won $71,760 of his $658,026 career earnings this meet. Samandar was followed by Special T Rocks at the wire with Nova Artist (Allan Davis) coming on for fourth.
Higher And Higher wasted on time to take the lead and Daryl Bier was passenger the rest of the way in a track record 1:49.1 victory in the $27,500 Open Mare pace. It was the second record this meet for the Western Terror-Pro Bowl Best mare. She equaled the 1:49.2 world record at four last November and this time set a new personal and track record for a female pacer. Bier, Glenn DelRusso and Charles Dombeck own the $117,987 winner this year and $875,246 lifetime. Feel Like A Fool (Montrell Teague) stalked the winner from the start and held on for second. High Joltage (Ben Stafford, Jr.) was the show finisher.
Flying Instructor won the fastest $20,000 division of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund sophomore colt pace out-distancing seven rivals in 1:52.3. Tim Tetrick drove the Badlands Hanover-Daylon Flyer colt to his fourth straight and second consecutive 2012 win and seventh of his career. Niel Gargiulo, Louie Paglierani, Legacy Racing of De Inc and Nanticoke Racing own the winner trained by Wayne Givens. Sambad (Brad Hanners) and Im Luck Again (Ron Pierce) were second and third respectively.
Ron Pierce led off the card driving Al Moor and J&E Stable’s Pop A Top Pop, a Badlands Hanover–Coho Salmon gelding, to an easy 1:54 win in a DSBF prelim. Trained by Janet Davis, Pop A Top Pop defeated Bail Money (Ben Stafford, Jr.) and Chizzled In Stone (George Dennis).
A third Badlands Hanover-sired three-year-old, whose dam is Sprite Flyte, won the third $20,000 DSBF prelim. Tim Tetrick guided Pushintheenvelope, co-owner by trainer John Wagner and Winbak Farm to his first win of the season in 1:54.4. Capers And Lemons (Allan Davis) finished second in front of Celtic Pride (Roger Plante).
In addition to Pierce’s six wins, Tetrick won three and Corey Callahan scored twice. They collectively combinined to win 11 of the 15 races.