East Rutherford, NJ — The Friday night (April 23) card at The Meadowlands began with nine amateur drivers going to post in a GSY Series pacing event under clear skies but windy conditions. Of those nine amateur drivers, Tony “The Judge” Beltrami proved victorious with Taste Of History, scoring a gate-to-wire 1:53.3 win.

Taste of History left hard for the lead from the six-hole and never looked back. Beltrami executed some robust first-half fractions of :27.2 and :55.4, and that strategy proved to be the winning move as the field turned for home. After bottoming out the field for three-quarters of the mile, he was able to stave off all the late chargers for a length victory.

The outer flow developed at the half, but never got close to the leader for the entire mile. Pocket sitter Kingofthejungle (Roy Marohn) ended up second, and Rockin Rambaran (Joe Lee), who finished fourth, was placed third after a disqualification.

After the victory, Beltrami stated, “I went fast the first half mile and a fast third quarter because there was a strong headwind at the top of the stretch. He was tiring in the stretch, but was still good enough to hold onto the victory.”

Taste Of History is a 6-year-old gelded son of Badlands Hanover out of the mare Rafanelli. He is owned by his victorious driver, Tony Beltrami, and is trained by Williams Hernandez.

The GSY Series returns to The Meadowlands next Friday night (April 30) with a $10,000-$12,500 claiming handicap race and an $11,500 purse. First post is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.