East Rutherford, NJ — Going Away escaped a tough trip when buried heading to three-quarters, found a seam to get clearance for the stretch drive, and unleashed a late rally to score in the Friday night (Nov. 21) feature at the Meadowlands, a TrackMaster 77.5 pace for fillies and mares.
Pirate Princess and Prideful were up front in the early action, leading at the quarter and half in :27.2 and :55.2, respectively. Going Away was in a hopeless spot heading to the far turn, racing along the inside in the three-hole in sixth with no place to go as Jillian Jiggs reached three-quarters while parked in 1:23.4.
It was at this point that driver Bradley Chisholm channeled his inner Harry Houdini, vacating the rail off the turn, swerving to the middle of the track, and charging home to win by a nose over Tennis Queen in a thoroughly thrilling finish. Trumps Girl was third.
Chisholm got along well with the 4-year-old daughter of So Surreal-Long Gone, and while it’s been some time since he drove the John Bavosi student, the pair did just fine.
“I drove her a little while ago, maybe three or four times,” said Chisholm. “She won again tonight. She was good. I didn’t think she was ready for that effort [off a three-month layoff], but it worked out for us. Fast first half, and we were in the right place at the right time.”
Going Away paid $32.60 as the 15-1 seventh choice in the 10-horse field. She completed the mile in 1:52.1 to pick up her ninth career win in 50 tries while lifting her bankroll to $69,944.
LOEBS LIGHTS UP THE BOARD: Sean Loebs made a big hit on the Late Pick-4 to come from well back to take the 10th and final installment of the 2025 Meadowlands $1,000 Monthly Handicapping Contest.
Loebs finished the night with a bankroll of $1,103.00 to outdistance second-place finisher William Meisel, who used an early score to finish with $536.00. Loebs and Meisel took home the nightly prizes of $500 and $250, respectively.
Loebs and Meisel became the final two qualifiers for the $10,000 invitation-only challenge, which will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13.
That competition will be limited to the 20 players who finished first or second during the 10 weeks of the “qualifiers,” with $5,000 going to the winner.
A LITTLE MORE: Braxten Boyd, Chisholm and Yogi Sheridan led the driver colony with two wins apiece while Joe Bongiorno topped the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane. … All-source wagering on the 14-race program totaled $2,208,269. … Racing resumes Saturday (Nov. 22) at 6:20 p.m.