Gural Hanover preferred in Meadowlands trot
June 8, 2017,from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department
East Rutherford, NJ — A field of seven Preferred trotters racing for a purse of $20,000 head up a 10-race program at The Meadowlands on Friday evening (June 9) to officially kick off Belmont Stakes weekend.
The draw for post positions in the Preferred was done in handicap fashion with the stronger horses relegated to posts five, six and seven. Gural Hanover landed in the open outside post seven and has been installed as the 9-5 morning line favorite.
Relatively lightly raced but always effective, the 6-year-old gelded son of Crazed makes but his 50th career start and will eclipse $850,000 in earnings for owners Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Little E, LLC and The Panhellenic Stable Corp. with a win on Friday. Currently in top form, Gural Hanover took a new mark of 1:51 in this class just a week ago. Jordan Stratton will drive for trainer Ron Burke.
A pair of battle tested warriors in Not Afraid (post five, Jim Marohn Jr.) and B Yoyo (post six, Joe Bongiorno) are the greatest threat to the favorite. Both have been competitive at a high level for quite some time, particularly Not Afraid who won the Dexter Cup way back in 2012 and is inching in on $1 million in career earnings for the Takters.
Poker and free baseball tickets are on tap for Friday night and the dinner theme in Pink is German food.
It’s a weekend full of wonder with both the second annual Burger Battle and BeerFest both scheduled for Saturday. Come early and stay late.
Post time is 7:15 p.m.
- B Yoyo sets world record in Meadowlands top trot (Friday, June 09, 2017)
The purse was only $20,000 and beforehand, most would not have guessed the race would not be especially memorable, but Joe Bongiorno and B Yoyo made sure nobody would ever forget the sixth race at The Meadowlands on Friday night (June 9).