Textbook win for Gia’s Surreal

Gia’s Surreal converted her pocket trip into a visit to the winner’s circle at Yonkers Raceway in $30,000 harness racing feature pace on Thursday.

Scott Zeron, piloting Gia’s Surreal, tucked the mare into second from the rail as Feelin Red Hot (George Brennan) surged on the outside to take the lead. The latter guided her five opponents through :27.2, :56.1, and 1:24.1 splits with Gia’s Surreal close behind.

Gia’s Surreal popped the pocket entering the last turn and besieged the leader. Feelin Red Hot resisted her foe’s move for much of the stretch drive, but Gia’s Surreal shifted into another gear and finished stronger than her opponent to win in 1:52.2.

Feelin Red Hot was a neck short in second. Siesta Beach (Austin Siegelman) was clear of the rest in third. The win price was $5.80.

GIA’S SURREAL REPLAY

Gia’s Surreal, a top-level mare for most of her career, has 22 wins on 66 starts to date and now just less than $320,000 in earnings. Nik Drennan trains the five-year-old So Surreal mare for the ownership coalition of James Graham and Thomas Mariano of Hamburg, Edward Peron of Syracuse, and Lee Winters of Medina.

Also on the card, Jacob Stillwell and longshot Dark Pool overcame post seven to win the second division of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) 2021 Summer Series 2nd Leg.

The driver kept the gelding in sixth for the first three splits of :27.3, :57, and 1:27.4 until one foe made a break turning for home. Dark Pool remained boxed in behind a wall of horses when they straightened into the lane, but Stillwell stickhandled his charge to the outside in the final eighth of a mile. The horse responded to newfound room with a burst of speed that saw him pass four foes and claim a 1:59.1 victory by a neck.

DARK POOL REPLAY

Dark Pool paid $90.40 to win.

Dark Pool, with 24 wins on 134 lifetime starts, is more experience than Stillwell, who was driving officially for the 19th time. The horse, an eight-year-old trotting son of Cantab Hall, has now earned $254,817. Paul Fusco conditions and Barry Franklin of Westbury is the owner. Stillwell doubled his win total with the victory. His other trip to victory lane was also aboard Dark Pool in a Billings Series race at Yonkers on Jan. 21, 2021.

Joe Lee captured a non-wagering NAADA trot event prior to the card with the French-bred Ursis Des Caillons. The pair occupied the pocket spot throughout and got past the racelong leader in the final strides to score by a nose.

Ursis Des Caillons is a 13-year-old Kool Du Caux gelding. He’s made more than $465,000 lifetime and won 22 of 157 races. Carmen Auciello does the training for Fox Racing Inc. of New York.

Joe Lee improved his overall win total to 67.

Joe Bongiorno, Jason Bartlett, and George Brennan all had driving doubles. Jordan Stratton is still atop the drivers’ standings with 137 wins; Brennan remains second with 127.

Yonkers Raceway returns on Friday, Jun. 11 with 12 programmed races including a $42,000 Open and a $30,000 preferred. That card will kick off at 7:15 p.m. EDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink