By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media
Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – For a second
straight night, Yannick Gingras recorded five wins and won the feature at the
Meadowlands, as he scored with Trump Nation in Saturday night’s Preferred
Handicap for pacers.
Trump Nation, sent to the gate as the
4-5 public choice, blasted away from post seven in the field of eight along
with Atta Boy Dan and Americanprimetime. Endeavor was in the early scrum but
driver Corey Callahan decided to back off into the four-hole as Atta Boy Dan
led at the quarter. Trump Nation continued on until surging to the top at the
three-eighths.
Endeavor, the 2-1 second choice, was
on the move at the half racing on the rim and chipped away at the leader’s
edge, drawing to within a length at the head of the stretch. The rivals battled
through the lane as Endeavor continued to inch closer, but at the wire, it was
an ultra-determined Trump Nation out-gaming Endeavor by a neck in 1:49.4.
Harambe Deo was third.
Gingras wasn’t worried as his primary
foe was closing in. “I was pretty confident I was going to be able to hold him
off,” said Gingras. “This horse was super again.”
Trump Nation, a 5-year-old gelded son
of Betterthancheddar-Late Flyin N who is trained by Ron Burke, returned $3.80
to his backers. He’s now won 15 of 40 lifetime starts and earned $432,446 for
owners Burke Racing Stable, Evan Katz, Weaver Bruscemi and Purnel & Libby.
THE NEED FOR SPEED: A fast track and
comfortable-for-the-time-of-year temperatures in the 40s on a clear night led
to some rock-the-clock times on the program.
The red-hot Bell I No, who won a week
ago in 1:49.1 despite cold conditions and a -1 track variant, recorded the
second fastest mile in North America of 2020 when he ripped through fractions
of :26.4, :54.1 and 1:22 before completing the mile in a lifetime-best 1:48.4
to record his third win in four starts in the sixth race high-end conditioned
pace. Andy Miller drove the Andrew Harris trainee.
Just two races later, the Ron-Burke
trained Covered Bridge equaled Effronte A’s national season’s-best of 1:48.3 by
coming from off the pace in taking another high-end conditioned pace. Driven by
Gingras, Covered Bridge lowered his previous lifetime mark by two-and-one-fifth
seconds while making his seasonal debut.
A LITTLE MORE: Chalk players ruled the night, as
eight winning favorites scored on the card. … Wagering on the track’s four
popular multi-leg puzzles was vigorous as the 20-cent Pick-5 ($75,544), 20-cent
Pick-6 ($29,150), 50-cent Early Pick-4 ($89,159) and 50-cent Late Pick-4
($74,289) accounted for total bets of $268,142. … Gingras, Dexter Dunn (three
winners), Andy McCarthy (two) and Marcus Miller (two) combined to win 12 of the
13 races. … Burke recorded three wins on the night. ... All-source handle on
the card totaled $2,687,050, the eighth time in the last nine programs that
wagering has exceeded $2.5 million. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:55 p.m.
