from the USTA Communications Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Escape The News fired out of the gate from the outside post six and was never caught in the $57,000 Aquarius series final for 4-year-old pacers on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, JJK Stables and Howard Taylor, the son of Artiscape-Ideal News was a winner for the fifth time in seven season’s outings, lifting his 2013 bankroll to $92,875 and his career total to $525,164.

Lisa photo

Escape The News was a wire-to-wire winner in a time of 1:49.3.

With Yannick Gingras in the sulky for trainer Ron Burke, Escape The News got away quickly in this compact field of six and brushed to the lead in an opening quarter of :27 with heavily favored Warrawee Needy (Mark MacDonald) in the pocket and Mr Dennis third.

Gingras rated his pacer to a :55 half and was still in command at the 1:22.3 three-quarter pole despite first-over pressure from In Commando.

Heading for home Escape The News was in total command, with Warrawee Needy shaking loose late, but to no avail. Escape The News hit the wie in 1:49.3, a half-length better than Warrawee Needy. Yo Cheyenne Rocky (David Miller) rallied late to finish third.

“I figured Mark (MacDonald) would try to keep his horse quiet as wrapped up as he was last week,” said Gingras. “But I definitely had my horse ready to go and I was trying to keep my options open.

“We went :27 and change (to the three-quarters) but it was rated on my part. I was trying to keep Mark locked in as long as I could. I thought my horse would be awful hard to beat on the front. He’s really game. Sometimes it’s a little hard to get him there, but I got off the gate on the right foot tonight and he made it there.

“I wasn’t counting my money at the top of the stretch, I knew we had a long way to go, but I was confident in my horse and he got the job done tonight.”

Escape The News paid $5.00 to win.

Saturday’s total handle of $3,593,659 at the Meadowlands was $1,029,420 more than the $2,564,239 wagered on this same Saturday in 2012, an increase of 40 percent. The live handle also showed an increase of 13 percent. The Meadowlands has run 32 programs so far this season and all 32 have shown increases in total handle.

— Meadowlands Media Relations contributed to this report