By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Shortly after
winning the weekly feature at the Meadowlands in January in 1:50.2 as the 2-5
favorite, all was well with Geez Joe, who seemingly was on his way to a big
year.
But a throat ailment led to surgery
and seven months on the shelf. Now he’s back, and he’s looking better than
ever.
Saturday night at the Meadowlands,
Geez Joe won the featured $27,500 conditioned pace in 1:48.2, two weeks after
winning at Hoosier Park in 1:47.4. Indeed, the 5-year-old gelded son of Roll
With Joe-Beach Bretta is all the way back.
In the early stages of his first Big
M start in nine months, driver Marcus Miller moved Geez Joe directly to the
top, hitting the quarter in :26.3. A relaxing second fraction of :28 would
follow before 8-5 second choice Dealt A Winner would move right to the leader
at the five-eighths and the pair continued their duel at three-quarters in
1:21.3.
Then Geez Joe would deliver the
knockout punch.
The Erv Miller trainee, the slight
8-5 public choice, powered clear of his main foe through the stretch with a
:26.4 kicker, hitting the wire 4½ lengths clear of Dealt A Winner. Our Max
Phactor N finished third.
Geez Joe, who has won five of his
last seven Meadowlands starts dating back to November of 2018, paid $5.20 to
win and now has 20 victories from 61 lifetime outings and earnings of $256,728
for owners Bay Pond Racing Stable.
BIG POT OF GOLD: With a pair of 30-1 shots and two
more that went off at at least 13-1, the Pick-5 did not get hit, creating a
carryover of almost $21,000. As a result, Friday’s 50-Cent Pick-5 will have a
guaranteed pool of $75,000, instead of the usual $25,000.
A LITTLE MORE: It was a night for the longshot
players as four favorites scored on the 13-race program while six winners went
off at 13-1 or more. … Dave Miller and Joe Bongiorno both had driving doubles.
… All-source wagering was $2,108,436. … Racing resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.
