by Matt Zuccarello, GSY Series Reporter

East Rutherford, NJ — The second leg of the GSY Winter Amateur Pacing Series took place on Friday night (Feb. 24) at The Meadowlands and the weather couldn’t have been better for racing. Ten pacers went to post and fractions were hot early on. That didn’t stop the race winner from going wire-to-wire in the fifth race on the card and establishing a new world record for amateur pacers.

Lisa Photo

Bob Davis and Who Do You Like cruise to a world record 1:53.1 for amateur pacing horses on Friday evening at The Meadowlands.

Bob Davis, aboard Who Do You Like, took command early but was challenged at that juncture by Palm’s Beach, with David Yarock holding the lines. They set blistering fractions of :27 and :56 to the half-mile, but Davis would not let anyone get to the front. He ended up winning in 1:53.1, which is extremely swift for these optional $7,500 claiming pacers.

After speaking with other amateur drivers in the series and looking up the records, this was the fastest amateur pacing event ever in the U.S. This is an amazing feat and demonstrates how far amateur racing and the participating horses have progressed in recent years.

Who Do You Like was two lengths ahead of pocket sitter Lightning Strike, with John Kokinos in the sulky and newcomer to the amateur circuit, 19 year-old Logan Powell, driving Idealist picked up the show dough.

This 5-year-old gelding is by Art Major and is owned by his reinsman, Bob Davis, and his brother-in-law Terry Vanvalkenburgh. The horse is trained by Gary Levine.

Don’t miss out on the third leg of this exciting pacing series next Friday night (March 3) at the Big M. Who knows, you may see another world record. First post is 7:15 p.m.