On the undercard of the Meadowlands Pace was the $650,000 William R. Haughton Memorial, for free for all pacers on Saturday night. 7-2 second choice Leading X Ample capitalized on a third-over trip and closed fastest of all to win Driven by David Miller, Leading X Ample tipped off the back of 2-1 favorite Ponder and out-sprinted him in the stretch for a neck victory in 1:48 2/5. Hop Sing closed along the pylons to finish a length behind in third. Trained by Bill Elliott, Leading X Ample notched his second win in 12 starts this season and boosted his career bankroll to $1,083,929 for the Leading X Ample Stable of Port Perry, Ontario.
Winning driver David Miller said, "He's got one humongous kick. If he gets dragged into it, he's a real factor. I was right where I wanted to be (past the half). I was following Ponder and figured he'd take me where I wanted to go. My horse, he got by real easy and then he kind of let up. I had to keep chasing him right to the wire. When I tipped him, he just flew on right past. I felt pretty confident. He's very sharp right now, he's on the up and up."
