East Rutherford, NJ — Elektra A used plenty of grit and determination to get the job done in the Friday night (Oct. 31) feature at the Meadowlands, a high-end conditioned pace for fillies and mares that went for a purse of $17,500.
The 8-year-old daughter of Four Starzzz Shark-Protikori got roughed up a bit in the early going, as after getting away quickly from post 2 in the eight-horse field (there were two scratches), she still found herself parked in third as Dandy’s Mercy sizzled the opening quarter in :26.2.
Driver Mark Herschberger then urged Elektra A to the lead, reaching the point just before the three-eighths. She hit the half in a taxing :54.2, and would have to be very good to win on this night with strong winds and a real-feel temperature in the high 30s.
And she was.
“The front end wasn’t good tonight,” said Herschberger. “The headwinds are pretty brutal down the lane. When the half popped up, I saw :54.2 and thought, ‘We might be in trouble here.’ But she had a gutsy effort and held them off late.”
A rated :29 third quarter might have given Elektra A the edge she needed, because despite taking token pressure from a first-over Take Your Pick, the eventual winner had a :28 final quarter in her tank to hold sway to the finish by a half length over a determined Take Your Pick, who was second at odds of 53-1. Stonecoldtreachery rallied along the inside for third.
“She definitely dug in when she heard them on her wheel,” said Herschberger.
Jeff Cullipher, the leading trainer at the Big M, schools the horse, who is owned by Pollack Racing LLC. She returned $6.60 to win as the 2-1 favorite to notch her 28th career win from 109 starts after stopping the clock in 1:51.2. Her career earnings are now just over $425,000.
DEBBIE DYNAMITE: Making her second appearance in 30 years as a co-host on the in-house TV presentation, Debbie Little, the Communicators Hall of Famer and associate editor at Harness Racing Update, followed up her six-winner performance of several weeks ago with five more Friday, which included the early daily double and four cold exactas.
Little correctly tabbed Just My Mama ($6.80 to win, $18.40 exacta) in the first; The Opener ($15.20, $90.00, $66.60 double) in the second; Elektra A ($6.60) in the ninth; value play Tricky Wicky ($7, $42.60) in the 11th; and Aardiebythehill N ($2.80, $17.60) in the 13th.
A LITTLE MORE: James Kennedy and Herschberger topped the driver colony with three victories apiece while Geovany Hernandez and Jeffrey Smith led the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane each. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,459,049. … Racing resumes Saturday (Nov. 1) at 6:20 p.m. with four Kindergarten Series finals sitting atop the marquee with purses totaling $500,000.