East Rutherford, NJ — With most of the front-line Meadowlands drivers competing on the North America Cup card, Saturday night (June 15) provided an opportunity for others to shine at the Big M, and none shone brighter than Freehold regular ‘Irish’ Joe Hanney, who guided a pair of longshots to victory lane.

Driver ‘Irish’ Joe Hanney lit up the toteboard with 55-1 shot Village Jackson in the fifth race at the Meadowlands Saturday night. Lisa photo.

Hanney’s first score came in the fifth race, as he guided Village Jackson to a lifetime-best 1:51.1 score in a claiming handicap pace. In his last five starts with claimers, Village Jackson had been no worse than fourth, and this time around, the 11-year-old gelding prevailed at odds of 55-1, topping an exacta that paid $694.40, a trifecta that came back $5,275.00 and the 50-cent Pick-5, which returned a whopping $15,266.00.

But he had more damage to do.

In the very next race, Hanney was at it again, this time in a pace for horses who had a TrackMaster rating of 80 or less, scoring with In Rock We Trust in a lifetime-best 1:51.1 at odds of 30-1. The exacta returned $899.40 and trifecta $3,603.40.

Hanney also trains both horses.

For Hanney fans who played a $2 win parlay, their return was a handsome $3,636.

Delaware-circuit regular Mike Cole also had a driving double on the program, as did Big M regular Andy Miller. Corey Callahan had a second straight superb Saturday by winning four times. Last week, Callahan visited the winner’s circle on six occasions.

A Little More: 20-Cent Jackpot Super High-Five players have much to look forward to Friday night. The fifth race JSH5 failed to result in a single-ticket winner, upping the carryover to $113,204.60.

All-source handle on the 13-race card totaled $2,614,953.

Racing resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.