Gingras wins five, Pick Six carryover climbs to $40,000
February 5, 2010,from the Meadowlands publicity department
East Rutherford, NJ — The hot hands of driver Yannick Gingras and upsets in two of Thursday night’s Junior Trendsetter Series divisions contributed to a $40,143 Pick Six carryover heading into Friday night’s card at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Gingras guided five winners on the card, including Colin Power ($29) and Catawba ($43.60) in the last two legs of the Pick Six. He also swept the daily double at the start of the night with Perfect Rendition ($7.80) and RD Blues ($10.60), and later went on to win the tenth race Junior Trendsetter division with Capital Blue Chip ($8.20).
Nicknamed ‘The Green Hornet’ for his driving colors and sharp sting on the racetrack, the 30-year-old reinsman is closing in on the 3,000-win plateau with 2,984 career victories through Feb. 4. He is currently fifth in the Meadowlands driver standings with 30 victories.
Native Treasure paid $53 as he nailed the favorite No Monkeys Allowed at the wire in the opening leg of the Pick Six, a $12,500 division of the Junior Trendsetter for 3-year-old colt pacers. Driven by George Brennan, Native Treasure closed from eighth at the top of the stretch to win his 2010 debut in 1:53. The Dylan Davis trainee had not raced since October and went off at 25-1 in the fourth race.
The second Junior Trendsetter division produced another double-digit payout as Rush Of Fools ($13.60) nosed out even-money favorite Most Happy Dragon in the fifth race. With David Miller in tow, Rush Of Fools tipped out on the far turn and wore down the leader in a career best 1:52.4. Trained by Jim Eaton, Rush Of Fools improved his record to four wins in eight career starts.
One of only three favorites to prevail on the 11-race Thursday card, Wayne The Lefty ($3.60) and driver Brian Sears won the third Junior Trendsetter division, race six, in 1:52. The colt hit the board in six of 10 starts for driver-trainer Trent Stohler in Indiana last season. He shipped into Tony Alagana’s New Jersey barn in January.
A $1 base wager, the Pick 6 is available nightly on races four through nine. A 10-day carryover produced a record $1.3 million pool and $193,384 payoff on April 4, 2009, when five winning tickets took down the pool.
Post time for Meadowlands’ Friday night card is 7 p.m.