Facing the likes of Twin B Joe Fresh, Kobes Gigi and Grace Hill all year long can make 12 months feel like a whole lot more when you have no wins, but trainer Ake Svanstedt found just the right spot for his five-year-old pacing mare Valar Dohaeris to perk up in Friday night’s $38,732 Open 2 Handicap for fillies and mares at The Meadowlands, and she responded with her first victory of 2024 in her 14th start.

The daughter of Huntsville-Bon Mot did not have an easy go of it despite being down to 3-5 in the seven-horse field.

At the start, Elektra A was put in play in a big way and led at the quarter in a snappy :26.3. Driver Rikard Skoglund wasted no time with the odds-on choice, moving Valar Dohaeris out of the four-hole to go after the leader, using plenty of energy to get past that foe while parked at the half in :55.1.

Turn The Page N, the 5-2 second choice who was looking for a third straight score, followed that one’s live cover and after Valar Dohaeris cleared, the two heavyweights then exchanged blows nose-to-nose all the way from the five-eighths to the three-quarters, where Turn The Page N actually grabbed a slight edge just after that call was timed in 1:23.3.

“I talked to Ake before [the race] and she never races on the lead,” said Skoglund of Valar Dohaeris. “[He thought] maybe she can go there. She can be a little lazy, so the best thing for us to do was to go to the lead."

After allowing Turn The Page N to claim that narrow advantage, Valar Dohaeris came right back with authority to retake the lead once they straightened up.

“She’s strong,” said Skoglund. “When she goes straight, she really fights. She was really fighting in deep stretch.”

At the wire, Valar Dohaeris was one-length in front of 55-1 longshot Arizona in 1:50.4. Turn The Page N was third.

Valar Dohaeris returned $3.20 to her backers after winning for the ninth time from 46 career starts and pushing her earnings to nearly $470,000 for owner Knutsson Trotting Inc.

After Thursday night’s $28,712.22 payoff in the 20-cent Pick-5, there were more big returns on the Friday program. Once again, the Pick-5 delivered, this time with a payout of $11,938.24. The reliable 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 returned $5,478.58 despite winners needing only six correct to collect.

Justin Irvine, Johnathan Ahle, Braxten Boyd and Mark Herschberger tied atop the driver colony leaderboard with two winners apiece on Friday. Mark Silva was the top trainer with two jaunts down victory lane.

All-source handle on the 14-race card totalled $2,359,199.

Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

(Meadowlands Racetrack)