Outside The Fire smokes his rivals

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Outside The Fire (Cantab Hall) had maintained good harness racing form over an eight-race stretch dating back to late November of last year, and with a drop in class Friday night, he had little trouble taking the featured $15,000 conditioned trot in 1:52.4 at The Meadowlands.

In the early going, Bully Boy Hill, bumping up in class seeking a third straight win, was on the point, and led at the quarter in :27.2 and the half in :56. Outside The Fire, the 4-5 favorite, vacated the three-hole at the five-eighths mark and quickly made up ground while racing uncovered on the rim, and just after Bully Boy Hill hit three-quarters in 1:24.3, moved to the lead as they straightened up with three-sixteenths remaining.

“He’s been sharp,” said Tyler Buter, who guided Outside The Fire to his third win in his last seven tries. “Last week, he got a bad trip. Tonight, it worked out well. I saw Scott [Zeron] had a handful there with Bully Boy Hill, [so I took back before] we took over.”

Through the stretch, Outside The Fire effortlessly maintained the lead, and despite providing perfect cover for Dribbling Bi, that one was no match for the winner, finishing three-quarters-of-a-length back in second. Seven Sins was third.

OUTSIDE THE FIRE REPLAY

Were you concerned that Dribbling Bi was right behind you?

“You never know until it’s over here [at The Meadowlands]”, said Buter. “But he raced well.”

Outside The Fire, a 6-year-old gelded son of Cantab Hall-Light The Flame who is trained by Jeff Cullipher, returned $3.60 to his backers. He’s now won 23 of 80 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $346,118 for owners Pollack Racing LLC.

PICK-6 CARRYOVER: The only horse not covered in the 20-cent Pick-6 heading into the payoff leg (race 13) was Somesurfsomewhere, and after he pulled off a 48-1 upset, that created a carryover of $3,795 for Saturday night’s card. Those with five correct selections cashed in for $13.60.

The Pick-6 is offered nightly on races eight through 13 and free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.

LOEBS TOP ‘CAPPER: Sean Loebs was the winner of the third installment of the 2025 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping contest. Loebs won the competition, which offered $1,000 in prize money, by finishing the night with a bankroll of $640.80.

By winning, he earned a berth in the $10,000 contest that will take place in December.

A LITTLE MORE: Dave Miller and Scott Zeron led the driver colony with two wins apiece while Bruce Saunders led the trainers with a pair of victories. … All-source betting on the 14-race card totaled $2,527,817. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

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

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands