by James Witherite
East Rutherford, NJ —
Green Manalishi S ($20.60) outlasted a first-over grind to collar Osterc in
1:50.3 in the first $70,000 Hambletonian elimination on Saturday (Aug. 3) at
The Meadowlands, while fourth-place finisher Gimpanzee suffered defeat for the first
time after winning the first 12 races of his career.
Now an eight-time
winner, the son of Muscle Hill commenced his uncovered bid out of fourth just
beyond a :54.4 half mile, advancing steadily on the far turn in line to Tim
Tetrick to engage 30-1 long shot Osterc (Yannick Gingras) at the midpoint of
the far turn. The pair dueled the length of the stretch, with Green Manalishi S
just reaching in the final strides. Osterc was a game runner-up, while Soul
Strong (Dexter Dunn) launched a belated rally down the grandstand side to
finish third.
Gimpanzee (Brian Sears),
sent off the 2-5 favorite, gapped third-over cover but finished evenly to save
fourth, and Cantab Fashion (Scott Zeron) finished fifth.
Marcus Melander trains
Green Manalishi S for Courant Inc.
The top five finishers
from each elimination will advance to the $1 million Hambletonian final, carded
as race 12 at The Meadowlands.
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