Amateur in the spotlight at Big M

East Rutherford, NJ — It may have been April Fools’ Day but the fall like temperatures and 4 amateur races were not a joke and a lot of action and betting occurred in those harness racing events Friday night (April 1) at the Meadowlands.

The third race on the card featured ten pacers, with one horse parked for the entire mile and pacers coming from 2,3, and even 4-wide to just miss the top prize. That’s because Tj Blast (Anthony Verruso) sat the pocket until he had to move outside, and zig zagged in the stretch in order to win by a three-quarters of a length over Big Bad Bill (Robert Hechkoff).

Master Conrad (Bruno Chiodo) came from way back to round out the trifecta. The mile went in 1:56.1 with a one second variant allowance due to the wind gusts and head wind down the lane. It was Verruso’s tenth triumph of the year already. The nine-year old gelding is owned by PT Stable out of NJ and is trained by Symon Spicer.

TJ BLAST REPLAY

The fifth race had a relatively uneventful start with the top three leavers filing into the position and the fractions were sensible. It looked like Gottalovemyshadow (Anthony Beltrami) was a sure winner in the deep stretch but was collared right before the wire by the old classy horse, Statesman N (Newton Yogi Sheridan) who picked up a neck victory in 1:56.

Beltrami ended up in a dead heat for second with Rock To Glory(Chiodo). The 15-year old gelding is owned and trained by Sheridan himself.

STATEMAN N REPLAY

The seventh race featured some fast fractions for the first half mile and several horses hung on the limb for the entire mile. When all was said and done, it was the pacesetter, Lyons Liberty (Juan Cano) who held on to a neck victory over Mv Ok Palacio Br (Matt Zuccarello), who came from an impossible spot near the back of the pack at the top of the stretch to just miss.

Another neck back who finished third in this photo finish was Cecil Casanova (Mark Silva). The mile went in 1:54.2. The 5-year-old gelding is owned by Elite Harness Racing LLC out of PA and is also trained by Cano.

LYONS LIBERTY REPLAY

The ninth race and final GSY event on the card featured an early tussle for the lead but once Cheyenne Ryan Lee (Beltrami) put this horse on the lead, he set sail and never had an anxious moment, winning by 5-1/4 lengths in a mile timed in 1:53.

It was Party Boy (Michael Kimelman) who worked out an outside trip to finish second and Lear Seelster (Marianna Monaco) rounded out the trifecta at long odds. The 6-year-old gelding is owned by Antoinette Bencivenne out of PA and is trained by Alexandra Goldin.

CHEYENNE RYAN LEE REPLAY

The GSY amateurs will be back in action next Friday (April 8) at the Meadowlands. The first post is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.

For full race results, click here.

by Matt Zuccarello, for the GSY Series