East Rutherford, NJ — The amateur drivers and pacers were back at the Meadowlands Friday night (Oct. 30) for the first leg of a pacing series.

Not to sound like a broken record, but another week at The Meadowlands and another speed duel ensued after the start of the race. This week’s combatants for speed supremacy lied between Badix Hanover (Robert Hechkoff) and Frankandjoanne (Dawn Anderson).

The only difference in this week’s duel to the quarter and half-mile intervals was the time. Hechkoff, who is known around the amateur circuit as a front end driver, lived up to his billing as he gunned his horse from the rail and wasn’t letting anyone to the lead. That left Anderson hung on the outside through relatively tepid fractions of :28.1 and :58.3.

All looked good for the front runner until mid-stretch when he was collared by Walks Of Life (Marianna Monaco). She was able to close into the slow fractions and kept her momentum going to get up late by a length over the stubborn Hechkoff, who managed to hold second place. The show dough was picked up by Good Day Mate (James Foley). The time of the mile was 1:56.3.

The winner is a 10-year-old gelding by Western Ideal, trained by Vincent Stallworth and owned by Paul Lang.

The GSY series will continue next week with stops at Monticello Raceway on Wednesday and the Big M on Friday.