Mike Wilder knows the track at The Meadows very well.
The harness racing veteran and Washington resident also knows what it is like to compete for one of the sport’s premier championships.
Wilder, who owns more than 8,000 career victories, had previously recorded a trio of fourth-place finishes in the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at The Meadows.
On Saturday, he experienced the race from the head of the pack as he drove Catch The Fire to victory in the $375,000 54th edition.
“This means the world to me,” said Wilder, after outlasting the field of eight others in a winning time of 1 minute, 49.3 seconds. “The good Lord is in control of everything in this world, and I was the lucky man today. It means everything for my kids to see it and for my wife to be here. It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s something that may never happen again, although you wish it would.”
Because of covid-19 restrictions, the stands were empty, save for a few invitees.
“I didn’t even think about the empty stands,” Wilder said. “My family’s here. My mother’s here from Florida. It means the world to me.”
Catch The Fire, one of the three Adios elimination winners July 25 and a 9-5 wagering favorite, captured 50% of the total purse and went past $400,000 in career earnings.
“It’s a big win, to have a horse that can compete at this level and win,” said John Ackley, trainer for Catch The Fire, the 2019 Kentucky Sires Stakes champion.
“No way I could have imagined this; it’s fantastic.”
Chief Mate, at 50-1, placed second, and No Lou Zing was third as the field of nine drivers and horses negotiated a rain-affected surface.
The field ran without Papi Rob Hanover, who was withdrawn from the race with what owner David McDuffie said was a stress fracture in his front leg. He was expected to be the heavy favorite after setting a world record for a 3-year-old colt on a five-eighths mile track in one of the eliminations.
Jeff Zidek called his first Adios final, and he became just the fourth announcer to call the event.
Roger Huston, who retired after last season, called 44 Adios finals, starting in 1976.
