by James Witherite, Meadowlands racing media
East Rutherford, NJ — A sustained three-wide push of the far turn propelled Truth And Liberty ($15.60) to victory in Thursday evening’s (Dec. 22) featured $15,000 distaff pace at the Meadowlands, while Tony Ciuffetelli took top honors in the GSY Series final for amateur drivers on a night which proved to be a longshot player’s paradise.
Lisa Photo
Truth And Liberty won in 1:53.2 on Thursday evening at the Meadowlands.
Truth And Liberty settled in mid-division on the first turn, well behind That Woman Hanover (Jim Marohn, Jr.) and Ideal Nuggets (Joe Bongiorno), who would duel through a :54.4 first half-mile. As That Woman Hanover labored on the far turn after repelling a first-over challenge from Ideal Nuggets, Andy Miller moved the 4-year-old Total Truth mare first-over with three-eighths to go, and was carried three-wide around Caviart Shelly (John Campbell) amid her push to an upper-stretch lead.
Truth And Liberty edged clear in the final sixteenth, and held clear of the late-rallying UF Dragon’s Queen (Tyler Smith) by just over a length in 1:53.2 as the pace folded. Better Said (Vinny Ginsburg) just reached third over odds-on favorite Sheeza Shark N (Brett Miller).
Bob Lounsbury trains 14-time winner Truth And Liberty for owner Tracy Moss. For Miller, the featured win capped a natural hat trick.
In the $12,500 final of the fall-winter GSY Series for amateur drivers, Tony Ciuffetelli and Avivas Winner ($24.20) made every yard a winning one. The GSY final was the first leg of the night’s 50-cent Pick-5, which attracted $212,276 in new money in great part to a $25,874 carryover. As four of five favorites in the sequence were vanquished—two of those defeated public choices being sent off at odds-on, the dividend ballooned to $17,908.35 for the successful 6/2/7/9/3 combination.
Additionally, the fifth-race 20-cent Jackpot Super High-Five was taken down for $4,676.44 after Carobbean Pacetry ($40.60) and Andy Miller successfully evaded odds-on choice Not Before Eight (John Campbell) to key the 3//9/8/6 combination. Miller came back immediately to team up with Sumatra ($4.00) in the sixth and round out an early Pick-4 sequence which returned $9,900.70 on a $1.00 ticket before continuing to capture the feature.
Total handle for the 12-race card was $2,190,429. A Jackpot High-Five carryover of $8,321.98 will await players in Friday’s (Dec. 23) closing race.
Racing continues at The Meadowlands with a 13-race card on Friday evening evening; post time is 7:15 p.m.
- Ciuffetelli wins the GSY Winter Series finals at big odds (Thursday, December 22, 2016)
The finals of the 2016 GSY Winter Series took place under moderate temperatures Thursday night (Dec. 22) in the first race at the Meadowlands.