Grand Circuit pacers battle at The Meadowlands

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – There were a pair of superstar harness racing pacers sitting atop the marquee Saturday night at The Meadowlands, and when the dust cleared, Kobe’s Gigi (Jk Endofanera-Twin Oaks Tess) held on in the $27,500 Open 2 Handicap for fillies and mares while Spring Inhis Step A (Somebeachsomewhere-Summa Of Dreams) took down Ruthless Hanover in the $40,000 Preferred Handicap.

Kobe’s Gigi was sent to the gate as the 1-5 public choice, but didn’t win as easily as her backers would have liked. With four horses leaving underneath her, driver Yannick Gingras had to wait until every horse found a spot before rushing up to the top at the half in :55.3 after Beach Cowgirl took them to the quarter in :26.4.

“I don’t think she was quite as sharp as last week [when she was dominant at Yonkers],” said Gingras. “But she was the best horse in the race and I just figured let the dust settle and move her to the lead and try not to do anything too fancy.”

At the five-eighths, a big challenge would come from 7-2 second choice Turn The Page N, who sprinted up to take on the leader and was on even terms with that one at three-quarters in 1:23.3.

Shortly after they straightened up, Turn The Page N grabbed a slight edge, but “Kobe” came roaring back along the inside and held on at the wire by a hard-fought head in 1:50.2. Coachellabound N was third.

“I was asking her already [at the top of the stretch] and she took a long time to get in gear,” said Gingras. “Class prevails most of the time.”

KOBE’S GIGI REPLAY

Kobe’s Gigi, a 6-year-old, returned $2.60 to win as she racked up her 23^rd career win from 80 starts. The Ron Burke trainee now has lifetime earnings of $862,534.

Spring Inhis Step A worked out a perfect pocket trip on the way to pulling off an upset of 2-5 favorite Ruthless Hanover, who was off back-to-back second-place finishes to likely Dan Patch Older Pacing Male of the Year Abuckabett Hanover in the Potomac and FanDuel Championship, respectively.

With South Beach Star having scratched, Ruthless Hanover did his thing and outsprinted his five foes to the quarter in :26.4. Driver Tim Tetrick had Spring Inhis Step A right behind the speedball, having left aggressively from the rail to secure a spot close to the favorite.

“That was my dream trip,” said Tetrick. “To get to follow him, my horse tracked along really well. In my mind, I was racing for second.”

As it turns out, Tetrick was no doubt thrilled to be wrong.

After “Ruthless” reached the half in :54.4 and three-quarters in 1:22.1, both very much the type of fractions he can cut without deep-stretch problems, the sprint was on.

Tetrick swung 8-1 fourth choice Spring Inhis Step A out of the two-hole with a little more than an eighth-of-a-mile to go, and nearing the wire motored by with ease to win by three-quarters-of-a-length. The spectacular time of 1:48.4 on a night when the real-feel temperature was 26 degrees was a new lifetime best for the 7-year-old gelding .

“I took a peek late in the mile and he took off,” said Tetrick. “He went after Ruthless and got the job done. For Christmastime, it’s a very good mile. He’s a good horse. I’m a believer in him. He’s aiming to please and that’s always nice for a driver.”

SPRING INHIS STEP A REPLAY

Trained by Jeff Cullipher, backers of Spring Inhis Step A collected $19.80 as he won for the 21^st time from 72 starts, good for earnings of $281,021.

A LITTLE MORE: There will be a huge holiday pot of gold awaiting 20-cent Pick-6 players Friday. The wager failed to yield a winning ticket for a second consecutive program, creating a carryover of $15,667. If $100,000 in “new money” is put into play, there will be a “negative takeout” on the bet, meaning winners will share in a pool that is larger than what was bet. … Tetrick and Jordan Stratton led the driver colony with three winners each. … Burke, Cullipher and Dan Morrissey topped the trainers with a pair of victories apiece. … All-source betting totaled $2,584,378 on the 14-race program. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands