By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Trump Nation
may have looked a bit class-challenged in the past performance lines, but
driver Yannick Gingras and the betting public showed confidence and they were
rewarded with an impressive victory in the Saturday night featured Preferred
for pacers at the Meadowlands.
The Ron Burke trainee was facing a
strong field – including Geez Joe, who won the Preferred last week in 1:50 as
the 8-5 favorite – but the parimutuel players sent him to the gate as the 6-5
choice despite the fact that he had beaten a far weaker conditioned field in
his last start. As for Gingras, he had choice of Trump Nation and another Burke
trainee, Wheels On Fire (who would finish last in the field of eight), and as
it turned out, he backed the right candidate.
Yonkers shipper Saying Grace N left
hard to grab the early lead and hit the quarter in :27.3. Gingras then called
on Trump Nation to move to the top, and the pair reached the lead before the
half. Lyons Steel was now moving toward the leader from first-over, almost
getting on even terms with Trump Nation as three-quarters went in 1:23.2.
Geez Joe, the 5-2 second choice,
gapped third-over cover down the backside before rallying well through the
stretch, only to be outkicked for the place spot by Franco Totem N, who
finished 1 length behind the winner. Lyons Steel hung in there for fourth. The
time for the mile was 1:51.1.
“He was very good again,” said
Gingras of Trump Nation. “I wasn’t too worried (when Lyons Steel challenged)
but you still have to respect the competition.”
Trump Nation, a 4-year-old gelded son
of Betterthancheddar-Late Flyin N who is owned by Burke Racing, E Katz, Weaver
Bruscemi and Purnel & Libby, returned $4.60 to his backers. He now has 13
wins in 35 career starts and earnings of $383,796.
A LITTLE MORE: The amazing Dexter Dunn keeps on
winning races in bunches. On Friday, he scored five times and added four more
on Saturday to run his meet-leading win total to 41. Gingras, who had two on
Friday and three more Saturday, is next with 27. … Fueled by horses who went
off at 26-1 and 36-1, the 50-cent Pick-5 returned $33,873. … At the opposite
end of the spectrum was the 50-cent Pick-4, which came back $68.95 after two
favorites, a 5-2 and a 9-2 shot won during the sequence. … All-source handle totaled
$2,222,157. … Racing resumes Thursday at 7:15 p.m. “Borrowing Ken’s Binoculars”
that night will be the USTA’s Michael Carter.
