by Matt Zuccarello, GSY Series reporter

East Rutherford, NJ — On a mild Friday (March 23) spring night, a knight of a different sort paid huge dividends.

As the 10 amateur trotters went to post in the first race, a speed duel ensued as post time favorite, Rockin Redford, driven by Roy Marohn and longshot Mistress Valentine, driven by GSY founder David Yarock went toe-to-toe for the first half-mile. They carved out suicidal fractions of :28.0 and :55.3 to the half-mile stanza.

That is when the outer flow started to inch up towards the leaders and over took at the top of the stretch. There were horses coming from everywhere, as Ken Warkentin emphatically stated as he called the stretch drive.

In a tight photo, with five horses within two lengths of the winner, the winner was Hot Summer Knight with trainer Rob Harmon in the sulky. He was a nose winner over Fiji, with Dave Offenberg doing the driving. Less than a length Back was another longshot, Fox Valley Steffen, driven by Jennifer Lappe.

All backers at the windows were treated to a juicy $43.40 win price for every $2 wagered, a $236.60 for a $2 exacta of 9-8 and a monster triple combination of 9-8-3 paid $3787.60 for a $2 wager.

The mile was trotted in a fast 1:55.2.

This was Harmon’s second win this year and in the series and the 7-year-old gelding is by Justice Hall and is owned by Lynette Buter and trained by Todd Buter.

Don’t miss the action next Friday at the Meadowlands as the amateur series continues and the spring weather is upon us. Post time is now back to 7:15 p.m.