East Rutherford, NJ — With just one MADC 1 race on the card Friday night (Jan. 12) at The Meadowlands, there was the usual battle for the lead and horses parked and pressing from the start. The race had plenty of action with a dramatic ending.

In the first race, the MADC drivers threw down through a swift :27.1 first quarter. Neil Glasser grudgingly gave way after setting the pace with his horse Thndrfrmthethron N to Magritte (Cameron Capone). He slowed the pace down some going to the half-mile marker but was challenged on the outside by post time favorite Sgt Papa Daddy (Rob Harmon), who was handed a parking ticket by the leader and these two dueled themselves into defeat, setting it up for the closers to chase them down in the stretch.

It was the outer flow that developed from horses that got away in mid-pack and the back that went three- and four-wide around the tiring leaders into the far turn and ended up on the trifecta ticket.

After a nice stretch battle between Mask On Mask Off (Joe Lee) and Sunshine’s Finest (William Clark Jr.), Lee was able to hold onto a head victory over Clark. But before the race was declared official, there was an objection lodged by Clark on the winner. After several minutes of race reviews by the judges, they determined that Lee squeezed his way out around the final turn, forcing Clark to alter course into the four path, thus costing him the victory.

The top two spots were reversed leading Clark into the winner’s circle. He paid a handsome $49.60 to win and continued the weekly generous payouts in these races. The mile was timed in 1:54.1. A fast closing Rock On Line (Tony Verruso) was third.

The winner is an 8-year-old gelding owned by Mary Cuerbo and William Clark Jr. and is trained by Tom Shay.

The MADC will be back next Friday night for more exciting harness racing action. Post time is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.