from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Not just anyone can come back in 52 days from hip replacement surgery to drive a car, let alone drive a racehorse, but that is exactly what The Bionic Man, Tim Tetrick, did on Thursday (Feb. 6).

Not only did he drive, he won his first race back at the Meadowlands, guiding Eagle Say to a score in the third race Filly & Mare C-2 Trot in 1:58.

Lisa photo

Eagle Say was a 1:58 winner for driver Tim Tetrick.

Tetrick made his move to the half, sensing a soft clip through a :58.3 half-mile and easily launched past a tired Rel Postage Due. It was that middle move that won the race, as Eagle Say (7-2) scored a decisive two length victory over Bluebird Kidsqueen. Tetrick drove the winner for trainer Eric Mollor and winning owner Gary Wolfinger.

“It feels good (to get the first win out of the way),” said Tetrick in a paddock interview with Justin Horowitz. “It was a little rougher trip to get back, but I feel good. I’m definitely out of shape a little bit, but hopefully that will all come back.”

The full interview can be seen on the Meadowlands Youtube page by clicking this link.

Yannick Gingras and David Miller both dominated the rest of the card, winning six of the remaining nine races, splitting those six at three apiece. In fact, Miller put up a natural hat trick, sweeping races five, six and seven on the card.

The Pick-5 carryover of $18,083 led to a total pool of $137,829. The sequence returned $2,712.30 on the 50 cent investment, thanks to the win by Casino King and driver/trainer Joe Martin in the fourth race C-2 Pace, who scored at 23-1 in 1:54.4 for owner Beauty Bridle Racing Stable Incorporated.

In addition, the Winter Survival Online Challenge kicked off Thursday night with 5,393 participants, a 54 percent increase from last year and the most ever seen in the contest, which runs every race night through the end of the Winter/Spring meet on Saturday (April 26). The contest can be found at this link.

Racing returns to the Meadowlands on Friday night with a post time of 7:15 p.m.