Geez Joe looking better than ever

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Shortly after winning the weekly harness racing feature at the Meadowlands in January in 1:50.2 as the 2-5 favorite, all was well with Geez Joe, who seemingly was on his way to a big year.

But a throat ailment led to surgery and seven months on the shelf. Now he's back, and he's looking better than ever.

Saturday night at the Meadowlands, Geez Joe won the featured $27,500 conditioned pace in 1:48.2, two weeks after winning at Hoosier Park in 1:47.4. Indeed, the 5-year-old gelded son of Roll With Joe-Beach Bretta is all the way back.

In the early stages of his first Big M start in nine months, driver Marcus Miller moved Geez Joe directly to the top, hitting the quarter in :26.3. A relaxing second fraction of :28 would follow before 8-5 second choice Dealt A Winner would move right to the leader at the five-eighths and the pair continued their duel at three-quarters in 1:21.3.

Then Geez Joe would deliver the knockout punch.

The Erv Miller trainee, the slight 8-5 public choice, powered clear of his main foe through the stretch with a :26.4 kicker, hitting the wire 4½ lengths clear of Dealt A Winner. Our Max Phactor N finished third.

Geez Joe, who has won five of his last seven Meadowlands starts dating back to November of 2018, paid $5.20 to win and now has 20 victories from 61 lifetime outings and earnings of $256,728 for owners Bay Pond Racing Stable.

BIG POT OF GOLD: With a pair of 30-1 shots and two more that went off at at least 13-1, the Pick-5 did not get hit, creating a carryover of almost $21,000. As a result, Friday's 50-Cent Pick-5 will have a guaranteed pool of $75,000, instead of the usual $25,000.

A LITTLE MORE: It was a night for the longshot players as four favorites scored on the 13-race program while six winners went off at 13-1 or more. … Dave Miller and Joe Bongiorno both had driving doubles. … All-source wagering was $2,108,436. … Racing resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.

By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations