by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

East Rutherford, NJ — Intimidate fanned five wide down the stretch to trot by the field to win the $500,000 TVG final for open trotters on Saturday night (Nov. 29) at the Meadowlands by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51.2. He was driven by Scott Zeron for trainer Luc Blais and owners Determination and Judith Farrow.

Lisa photo

Intimidate was a 1:51.2 winner in the TVG final for open trotters.

There were no surprises as the race left the starting gate, with Ake Svanstedt guiding Sebastian K to the lead by the :26.1 first quarter and Maven (Yannick Gingras) right behind him.

Creatine (Ron Pierce) trotted up with a rush to get alongside Sebastian K, where he remained through the :54.1 half and on to the 1:23 three-quarters.

As the field turned for home, Market Share and driver Tim Tetrick went three wide to press hard on those two leaders and appeared poised to go by before Intimidate emerged five wide to trot by the field for the win. Market Share was second and Creatine third.

It was just the fifth win of the year for Intimidate in 14 starts and enough to put him over $1 million lifetime, with career earnings now of $1,224,008. He is a 5-year-old gelding by Justice Hall out of Fabulous Tag.

“This field was just stacked with the best trotters in North America,” said winning driver Scott Zeron. “The pace was hot up front and it all worked out for the off the pace (horse).

“I found out today when I spoke with Luc that he (Intimidate) tied up (in the Breeders Crown one week ago). So he wasn’t himself, because when he’s on his game, he comes home in :26 every week.

“To finish it off like this, it’s been a great year. It feels great. I want to say hi to everybody back home in Quebec because this horse represents Canada and Quebec.”