Mcwicked, placed second over, stormed home in the stretch and outsprinted Filibuster Hanover to take the $471,100 William Haughton Memorial going a mile and an eighth in 2:02.2.
Rockin Ron rushed for the front moving to the first turn while stable-mate Filibuster Hanover floated into the pocket. Sintra paced wide in third through a :25.4 first quarter and cleared control moving to the backstretch.
Check Six, positioned fourth, moved first over passing the half, timed in :55, and carried Mcwicked into contention as he drew alongside pacesetter Sintra moving into the final turn. The two paced stride for stride through three-quarters in 1:22.4 while Rockin Ron tracked in the pocket and Filibuster Hanover behind him.
Sintra began to retreat into the stretch, leaving room for Rockin Ron and Filibuster Hanover to slip through the inside. Mcwicked tipped off cover heading to the eighth pole and quickly went to the front. Filibuster Hanover paced all out to finish second while Rockin Ron held third.
“[Filibuster Hanover] was digging in but my horse kicked it in right through the wire and was very sharp,” driver Brian Sears said after the race. “I was just trying to get him some place in the hunt early and get him into some kind of flow. [I just didn’t want] to be pushed down on the rail or something like that. The horse has been super sharp the last few starts and was hoping to work out a trip and it worked out great."
A seven-year-old horse by McArdle out of the Western Ideal mare Western Sahara, Mcwicked, owned by S S G Stables, won his fifth race in seven starts this season and his 27th in 81 overall, earning over $2.8 million. Brian Sears piloted the Casie Coleman trainee who paid $3.60 to win.
“This horse every single time he races is unbelievable,” Coleman said. “He gives everything he’s got on the track and he’s just a pleasure of a horse.”
Coleman also said Mcwicked’s next start will be in the Sam McKee Memorial on Hambletonian Day Saturday, Aug. 4.
The William Haughton Memorial was held on the Saturday stakes card at the Meadowlands, with recaps of the other highlighted events available on the 2018 Meadowlands Pace News Centre.