Monserrate, victorious in the 2024 Valley Victory, snagged his first win of 2025 on Friday, June 27 at The Meadowlands, as the Hambletonian eligible three-year-old son of Chapter Seven-Guinevere was the easiest kind of winner in the featured $23,973 high-end conditioned trot.

“I wasn’t happy with either one of his Vernon starts,” said winning trainer Andrew Harris, referring to Monserrate's first two outings of the year when he finished second in a New York Sire Stakes and third in an Empire Breeders Classic division. “But he was facing [Yonkers Trot winner] Super Chapter and horses like that. I took the hopples off [at the start of this year] because he needed to mature. He’s never shown any signs that he needed them.”

With U.S. Hall of Fame driver Dave Miller calling the shots, Monserrate reached the top from post two in the seven-horse field in :28.3. Soft fractions of :58.2 and 1:27.3 followed, leaving a :26.3 final-quarter sprint to complete a wire-to-wire win in 1:54.1. It was 4-1/4 lengths back to second-place finisher Excalibur Bi (Andrew McCarthy). Prominence (Johnathan Ahle) was third.

“Dave [Miller] kept the ear plugs in,” said Harris. “When he went to Vernon, he wouldn’t eat or drink, and his lines still looked OK. But he didn’t possess that pop. Tonight, that’s as good as he’s ever been.”

Monserrate, who is owned by New Jersey's Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and Harris, won for the fifth time in 16 lifetime starts while lifting his lifetime earnings over the $500,000 mark. 

The 1-2 favourite returned $3 to win.

There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of $6,742 for Saturday’s card. With a 33-1 shot starting the sequence, no player could cash despite the final five legs having winners' odds of 4-1, 9-2, 4-1, 2-1 and 9-5. Those with five correct collected $204.32. The Pick-6 is available nightly on races eight through 13.

Artist Best came from off the pace to take the seventh race Meadowlands Amateur Driving Club dash at odds of 29-1 to give provisional driver Charles Longo his first-ever Meadowlands victory.

Andy McCarthy led the driver colony with three winners on the card.

All-source handle on the 14-race program totalled $2,865,366 USD.

Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with a star-studded program that includes the Dave Brower Memorial, Crawford Farms, Perfect Sting and Six Pack.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)