Gutsy stretch drive wins $45,000 Open Trot

With a relentless first-over move that carried all the way from the backstretch to the finish wire, Inaminute Hanover (Bar Hopping) was able to wear down pacesetter Hillexotic to capture the $45,000 Open Handicap Trot Saturday (March 18) at The Meadowlands.

The 8th race feature got underway with the far outside tier of horses all leaving for early position. Rich And Miserable (David Miller) went off-stride before the turn as Lindy The Great (Andy Miller) was first on the lead at the quarter in :27.4.

But hot for the lead was 2-1 race favorite Ahundreddollarbill (Todd McCarthy) who passed right by Lindy The Great and then Hillexotic (Yannick Gingras) blew by Ahundreddollarbill to take command well before the half mile marker in :55.3.

Racing down the backstretch, Hillexotic was the strong horse and then moving first-over was Inaminute Hanover with driver Andy McCarthy and following their outside cover was Mississippi Storm (Jordan Stratton).

Around the final turn and Inaminute Hanover had nearly collared Hillexotic but after passing the three-quarters in 1:24.3, Hillexotic found another gear and took the lead again. But Inaminute Hanover was relentless and came back again, just nipping Hillexotic at the wire by a long nose in 1:52.4. Platinum AS (Tim Tetrick) was third.

INAMINUTE HANOVER REPLAY

It was the first win in six starts this year for Inaminute Hanover. The six-year-old gelding tied his lifetime mark of 1:52.4 for trainer Jake Huff and the Beauty Bride Racing Stable of South Amboy, NJ. He paid $8.60 to win.

‘GENDRY’ SETS PACE: In what was anything but a surprise, Southwind Gendry (Always B Miki-Gambler’s Passion) scored in the $28,000 pacing feature, an Open 2 Handicap, as the 1-5 public choice in 1:50.4.

Yannick Gingras had the Ron Burke trainee away well from post six and made the early lead, hitting the quarter in :27.3 before yielding to Sonny Weaver N. In an instant, Gingras put Southwind Gendry back on top, and the 5-year-old gelding took care of business from there.

A middle-half rating of :56.4 had Southwind Gendry in good shape turning for home despite Sonny Weaver N still hanging in there, just three-quarters of a length behind.

SOUTHWIND GENDRY REPLAY

“My horse struggles a little bit in the last turn,” said Gingras. “He just slows down a little, that’s why they got close, but once he straightened away, he was good again. I was really confident at the top of the stretch that he’d get the job done. He had a rough go of it last year (winning just two-of-14 starts as a 4-year-old), but he’s come back sound. He was a little bit on the left line last week (when a close-up third in his seasonal debut) or he might have won.”

Southwind Gendry paced a final quarter in :26.2 to hit the wire 2 lengths in front of the pocket-sitting Trendy Teen. Livinthebeachlife was third with Sonny Weaver N fourth.

While upping his lifetime stats to 17 wins from 48 starts, Southwind Gendry increased his gaudy bankroll to $1,112,347 for owners Burke Racing and P. Collura, Knox Services, J. and T. Silva and Purnell and Libby. He returned $2.40 to win.

For complete race results, .

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink, and Dave Little, for The Meadowlands