Morrill tries for another Meadowlands Pace upset

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Jim Morrill Jr. will relocate from New Jersey to western New York when the Meadowlands Racetrack harness season ends on Aug. 6.

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Before he leaves, however, Morrill will try to pull off another upset in the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on Saturday night.

Morrill drove Holborn Hanover to an improbable victory last year in the race for 3-year-olds. Holborn Hanover returned a record $119 to win.

Morrill reunites with the same team, trainer Mark Harder and owner John Fielding, that pulled off the 2004 shocker. This time they go with George At Bigs, 15-1 from post 4.

This also would be an upset. Rocknroll Hanover, winner of five of six starts this year including the $1.2 million North America Cup at Woodbine in June, is the morning-line favorite at 5-2.
George At Bigs has only two wins in 16 starts this year but he did rally willingly to get third in last week's Pace eliminations.

``He raced good,'' Morrill said. ``He didn't get the best of trips.''
Harder concedes that ``this horse is a fringe player, but I guess Holborn was too. He deserves a chance. So much can happen.''

Morrill knows he needs another lucky trip.

``I would say it's basically going to be the same scenario,'' Morrill said. ``He's going to be long odds and he's the kind of horse that will need a ground-saving trip.''
As for the move, Morrill and his family considered it for some time. They will give up the Meadowlands, the premier track in harness racing, for the smaller tracks in Buffalo and Batavia, N.Y.

``My wife Molly and I had been talking about if for a couple of years,'' Morrill said. ``We always wanted to be up there near her family. We just felt like it was the time.''
The Meadowlands Pace field, in post position order with morning-line odds: Village Jolt, 8-1; Leading X Ample, 5-1; Stonebridge Regal, 3-1; George At Bigs, 15-1; Rocknroll Hanover, 5-2; Cams Fool, 6-1; Load The Dice, 15-1; Team Hutch, 10-1; Allamerican Inca, 15-1; and American Ideal, 12-1.

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