HUMBLE A WINS BIG M FEATURE, UPS WIN STREAK TO EIGHT

Sunday, December 29, 2024

It has been 50 years since the country song “It’s Hard to be Humble” was released. Sung by Mac Davis, it goes “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.”

No song fits the winner of the Saturday night $40,000 featured Preferred for pacers at The Meadowlands better than the Scott Blackler-trained Humble A.

Since arriving in the United States from his native Australia in September, Humble A has been perfect in every way, winning all eight of his starts. What he hadn’t done until Saturday was beat horses the caliber he faced at The Big M.

After winning seven in a row at Yonkers Raceway, Blackler brought his prized pupil to the mile oval to take on Maximus Miki, who was gigantic in winning this race on Nov. 23, and Spring Inhis Step A, who took down Ruthless Hanover on Dec. 14.

He proved up to the challenge.

Driver Jason Bartlett had Humble A on the move early from post six in the seven-horse field, and had to make some early decisions with horses leaving to both his inside and outside.

“I was just trying to play off John [Ahle, driving Maximus Miki] and Tyler [Buter, Spring Inhis Step A],” said Bartlett. “I saw John grab up a little bit and went around him and it worked out pretty well. I got the trip I wanted.”

Humble A made the lead shortly after Lyons Steel cut out the first quarter in :28, then yielded the point to Spring Inhis Step A, who led at the half in :56.1 and three-quarters in 1:24.

The sprint to the wire was a nose-to-nose war as Spring Inhis Step A battled Humble A before the awesome Aussie prevailed by a half-length in a lifetime-best 1:50.3 over a track rated ‘sloppy’ with a -2 variant. Lyons Steel finished third. Maximus Miki finished fourth after a tough trip that saw him three-wide at the five-eighths. It marked the first time in 23 starts this season that ‘Miki’ failed to hit the board.

“He’s doing what you ask of him,” said Bartlett of Humble A, a 4-year-old gelded son of American Ideal-Perfect Penny. “When I came out of the [pocket], I thought I was going to blow [Spring Inhis Step A’s] doors off. [My horse] is a really good horse and he beat a really nice horse.”

Have we seen the best of Humble A yet?

“I think there is some more there,” said Bartlett. “We had to tinker with him in the beginning [of the season] because he was too hot, but now, he’s two fingers to drive.”

Humble A now has 13 wins from 21 career starts, good for earnings of $124,068 for owners Arrhythmic LLC. As the 4-5 favorite, he paid $3.80 to win.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE: For the third time in the last four years, average daily handle at The Meadowlands exceeded $3 million.

After $2,894,453 was wagered on Saturday’s 14-race card, action for the 88 programs contested during 2024 totaled $264,427,375, an average per card of $3,004,856.

In addition, over the course of the year, betting bettered the $3-million mark on 46 occasions at the industry’s handle leader, meaning wagering exceeded that lofty plateau 52 percent of the time.

A LITTLE MORE: A carryover of $4,434 led 20-cent Pick-6 players to pump just over $32,000 of “new money” into the pool, creating a total pot of $36,698. After a sequence that saw winners’ odds of 1-1, 9-1, 4-5, 9-5, 5-2/2-1 and 9-1, winning tickets were exchanged for $254.28. … Bartlett was the top driver on the night after guiding four winners. … Jeff Cullipher, Mark Ford and Cory Stratton led the trainers with two victories apiece. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.

PHOTO: Humble A and driver Jason Bartlett won the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands. (Credit: Lisa Photo)