East Rutherford, NY – On a rainy and unseasonably cold Friday (May 28) night at the Big M, the GSY amateur pacers and trotters took center stage in the first and fifth races on the card.

In the first race, several horses left hard for the lead and several were parked on the outside for the entire mile. After the slop settled, Franco Tristan N (Joe Lee) had the lead to the quarter in a fast :27.1 over the sloppy surface. He was quarter moved by post time favorite Kingofthejungle (James Foley), who held that lead to the stretch but was pressured on the outside to the half and three quarter pole by Grand Teton (David Glasser).

As the field entered the stretch, the leader drifted off the pylons and Lee swept his pacer to the lead and won by a convincing two lengths. Foley held on for second and Rockinwiththebest (Robert Hechkoff) got up for third.

The mile went in 1:54.1 on a sloppy track. The 9-year-old gelding by McArdle and out of the mare Thoroughly Franco is owned by Scheigert Racing Stable LLC of New York and trained by Amanda Kelley.

In the fifth race, there wasn’t a speed duel to the quarter or half but there was a horse or two parked for the entire mile, just like the first race. In this event, Jerrytone (John Calabrese) set sensible fractions throughout the first three-quarters and dueled with a parked out Rockin Rambaran (David Glasser) who slowly grinded his way towards the leader and eventually took the lead in the stretch.

He looked like he was going to pull off a hard fought victory but in the shadow of the wire, he was collared by Thespywholovedme (Juan Cano), who got out late and pulled off the victory by a head. Glasser did hold second over a hard closing Winning Linc (Jacob Stillwell), who rounded out the trifecta. The mile went in 1:55.4. This 9-year-old gelding is by Art Major out of the mare Dragon’s Diva and is owned and trained by Adrienne Hall.

Next week the fourth leg of the GSY Series continues at the Meadowlands next Friday (June 7) night with the first post scheduled for 6:20 p.m.