Bongiorno and Miller do it again with more wins

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Joe Bongiorno and Dave Miller are no doubt sorry to see Sunday harness racing end at The Meadowlands.

The 29-year-old Bongiorno and 58-year-old Hall of Famer Miller both won three races a week ago on the first of two Sunday (Jan. 22) afternoon programs at The Meadowlands before coming back and doing it again yesterday on what’s supposed to be a day of rest, each sending three more to victory lane.

After scoring in the first race with JK Will Power (Somebeachsomewhere) who paid $4.80 to win, Bongiorno’s second winner of the day came with A New Leader (Trixton, $3.40) in the featured fifth race, a conditioned event for trotters, prevailing by a nose at the conclusion of a stirring stretch battle with Headoverboots As.

“He took a nasty step down the backstretch,” said Bongiorno of A New Leader, a Bruce Saunders trainee.

“He wears bell boots and hit his knee but he trotted though it. Scottie (Zeron, driving Headoverboots As) rated a perfect mile and turned it into a sprint, but my horse got there. Barely.”

A NEW LEADER REPLAY

Bongiorno’s third victory came behind Marcus Seelster (Sunshine Beach) $4.00) in race six.

Miller, aka “Purple Jesus”, aka “The Buckeye”, scored with Bet The Limit (fourth race, $9.60), Game Of Change (seventh, $5.00) and longshot Caughtinalandslide (eighth, $30.80).

A LITTLE MORE: After driving five winners Saturday night, Yonkers regular Jordan Stratton added one more Sunday to finish the weekend with a half-dozen winner’s circle visits. … All-source handle totaled $1,556,743 on the 11-race program. … Effective immediately, racing at The Meadowlands will be conducted on the usual Friday-Saturday schedule for the next 27 consecutive weeks. Post time is 6:20 p.m., except for Hambletonian Day, Saturday, Aug. 5, when post time is noon. … Live action resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.

For complete race results, click here.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands