In a stretch battle between the brothers McCarthy, Beach Crazy and little brother Todd gunned down big brother Andy and 3-5 favourite Western Wish in the Friday night feature at The Meadowlands, a $15,500 high-end conditioned pace for fillies and mares.

Western Wish had the credentials to be sent to the gate with the type of confidence shown by the betting public, having raced at Yonkers in her last three starts in the high-powered Matchmaker Series and cashing a cheque in two of those dashes.

Though she showed very little in the way of gate speed on her lines, Andy asked Western Wish for a burst of early energy and got it, but leaving from post seven in the seven-horse field, she had to rough it around the first turn and didn’t clear the lead until after the quarter, where Beach Crazy led in :27.3.

Western Wish had things her own way through a middle half of :56, but proved to be no match for Beach Crazy, who popped out of the pocket late and rolled right by to record a three-quarter-length win in a lifetime-best 1:50.4. Western Wish held second with Cash Roll third.

“That was very impressive,” said winning trainer Stacy Chiodo. “She felt totally different tonight than when she was second last week. On her best day, she might be a step below the best horses in the aged mare division, but we’ll try her in a couple of big races during the year. That’s a tough deal, but either way, she’ll be a nice overnight horse.”

Beach Crazy, who returned $14 to her backers as the third choice in the wagering, has now won seven of 30 lifetime starts. The four-year-old daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Crosswinds Cupcake is owned by Chiodo Racing, Jeffrey Shore and Robert Barr and now has lifetime earnings of $128,335.

A LITTLE MORE: Driver Yannick Gingras, who saw his streak of winning at least one race on each of the first 22 race cards of the year snapped last Saturday, got back on the winning track with a pair of victories on the program. … Dave Miller and Mark MacDonald also recorded driving doubles. … Betting failed to reach $3 million for a fourth consecutive card, but wasn’t far off, as a total of $2,713,392 was pushed through the windows on the 12-race program, one less race than usual. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

(Meadowlands)