Benefitting from a perfect drive by U.S. Hall of Famer Yannick Gingras, Chapercraz scored in the Friday, May 2 feature at The Meadowlands, taking down Outside The Fire, who was seeking a third straight score in the $34,722 Winners Over Trot.

“He might be a step below the top trotters in the country but he’s a little bit better than Open trotters when he’s on his game,” said Gingras of the Ron Burke trainee.

Even-money favourite Outside The Fire (Johnathan Ahle) blasted away from post seven in the seven-horse field (Sir Pinocchio was scratched) but had post five starter Usain Hanover (Tim Tetrick) leave underneath him while Chapercraz took advantage of the pylon position, leaving enough to make the top two work.

Usain Hanover reached the quarter in a snappy :27.1 as Outside The Fire continued to gain first-over and reached the lead at the three-eighths before hitting the half in :55.2.

Chapercraz went into attack mode at the five-eighths mark, vacating the three-hole and sprinting up to take on the leader. He was just a length behind that foe at three-quarters, which went in 1:23.3.

The duo was on even terms at the head of the stretch, but the early fracas proved too much for Outside The Fire to overcome, as Chapercraz reported home a 1-1/2-length winner in 1:51.2. Usain Hanover looked exceptional in his seasonal debut, nailing Outside The Fire for the place spot. 

“I just wanted to make sure that the pace was fairly hot,” said Gingras. “I wanted to make sure the last quarter wasn’t a full sprint. The fractions were honest and I was happy with that. I would rather have been in the two-hole but it was fine the way it worked out. If you’re going to beat Outside The Fire, you’re going to have to make him work a little harder.”

A five-year-old gelded son of Crazy Wow-Chaperess, Chapercraz notched his ninth lifetime victory from 43 starts while lowering his previous lifetime best by two and one-fifth seconds. The millionaire pacer owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura. 

As the 7-5 second choice, he returned $4.80 to win.

Dexter Dunn led the driver colony with three winners on the program. Noel Daley and Michael Posner topped the trainers with two victories each. 

All-source handle on the 14-race program totalled $1,878,543 USD. 

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

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)