East Rutherford, NJ — Outside The Fire had maintained good form over an eight-race stretch dating back to late November of last year, and with a drop in class Friday (March 14) night, he had little trouble taking the featured $15,000 conditioned trot in 1:52.4 at The Meadowlands.
In the early going, Bully Boy Hill (Scott Zeron), bumping up in class seeking a third straight win, was on the point, and led at the quarter in :27.2 and the half in :56. Outside The Fire (Tyler Buter), the 4-5 favorite, vacated the three-hole at the five-eighths mark and quickly made up ground while racing uncovered on the rim, and just after Bully Boy Hill hit three-quarters in 1:24.3, moved to the lead as they straightened up with three-sixteenths remaining.
“He’s been sharp,” said Buter, who guided Outside The Fire to his third win in his last seven tries. “Last week, he got a bad trip. Tonight, it worked out well. I saw Scott [Zeron] had a handful there with Bully Boy Hill, [so I took back before] we took over.”
Through the stretch, Outside The Fire effortlessly maintained the lead, and despite providing perfect cover for Dribbling Bi (Brett Beckwith), that one was no match for the winner, finishing three-quarters-of-a-length back in second. Seven Sins (David Miller) was third.
Were you concerned that Dribbling Bi was right behind you?
“You never know until it’s over here [at The Meadowlands]”, said Buter. “But he raced well.”
Outside The Fire, a 6-year-old gelded son of Cantab Hall-Light The Flame who is trained by Jeff Cullipher, returned $3.60 to his backers. He’s now won 23 of 80 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $346,118 for owners Pollack Racing LLC.
PICK-6 CARRYOVER: The only horse not covered in the 20-cent Pick-6 heading into the payoff leg (race 13) was Somesurfsomewhere, and after he pulled off a 48-1 upset, that created a carryover of $3,795 for Saturday night’s card. Those with five correct selections cashed in for $13.60.
The Pick-6 is offered nightly on races eight through 13 and free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.
LOEBS TOP ‘CAPPER: Sean Loebs was the winner of the third installment of the 2025 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping contest. Loebs won the competition, which offered $1,000 in prize money, by finishing the night with a bankroll of $640.80.
By winning, he earned a berth in the $10,000 contest that will take place in December.
A LITTLE MORE: Dave Miller and Scott Zeron led the driver colony with two wins apiece while Bruce Saunders led the trainers with a pair of victories. … All-source betting on the 14-race card totaled $2,527,817. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.