by James Witherite, Meadowlands racing media

East Rutherford, NJ — A sustained three-wide push of the far turn propelled Truth And Liberty ($15.60) to victory in Thursday evening’s (Dec. 22) featured $15,000 distaff pace at the Meadowlands, while Tony Ciuffetelli took top honors in the GSY Series final for amateur drivers on a night which proved to be a longshot player’s paradise.

Lisa Photo

Truth And Liberty won in 1:53.2 on Thursday evening at the Meadowlands.

Truth And Liberty settled in mid-division on the first turn, well behind That Woman Hanover (Jim Marohn, Jr.) and Ideal Nuggets (Joe Bongiorno), who would duel through a :54.4 first half-mile. As That Woman Hanover labored on the far turn after repelling a first-over challenge from Ideal Nuggets, Andy Miller moved the 4-year-old Total Truth mare first-over with three-eighths to go, and was carried three-wide around Caviart Shelly (John Campbell) amid her push to an upper-stretch lead.

Truth And Liberty edged clear in the final sixteenth, and held clear of the late-rallying UF Dragon’s Queen (Tyler Smith) by just over a length in 1:53.2 as the pace folded. Better Said (Vinny Ginsburg) just reached third over odds-on favorite Sheeza Shark N (Brett Miller).

Bob Lounsbury trains 14-time winner Truth And Liberty for owner Tracy Moss. For Miller, the featured win capped a natural hat trick.

In the $12,500 final of the fall-winter GSY Series for amateur drivers, Tony Ciuffetelli and Avivas Winner ($24.20) made every yard a winning one. The GSY final was the first leg of the night’s 50-cent Pick-5, which attracted $212,276 in new money in great part to a $25,874 carryover. As four of five favorites in the sequence were vanquished—two of those defeated public choices being sent off at odds-on, the dividend ballooned to $17,908.35 for the successful 6/2/7/9/3 combination.

Additionally, the fifth-race 20-cent Jackpot Super High-Five was taken down for $4,676.44 after Carobbean Pacetry ($40.60) and Andy Miller successfully evaded odds-on choice Not Before Eight (John Campbell) to key the 3//9/8/6 combination. Miller came back immediately to team up with Sumatra ($4.00) in the sixth and round out an early Pick-4 sequence which returned $9,900.70 on a $1.00 ticket before continuing to capture the feature.

Total handle for the 12-race card was $2,190,429. A Jackpot High-Five carryover of $8,321.98 will await players in Friday’s (Dec. 23) closing race.

Racing continues at The Meadowlands with a 13-race card on Friday evening evening; post time is 7:15 p.m.