Elektra A used plenty of grit and determination to get the job done in the Friday Oct. 31 feature at The Meadowlands, a high-end conditioned pace for fillies and mares that went for a purse of $24,648.

Driven by Mark Herschberger, the eight-year-old daughter of Four Starzzz Shark-Protikori got roughed up a bit in the early going, as after getting away quickly from post two in the eight-horse field (there were two scratches), she still found herself parked in third as Dandys Mercy (Tyler Miller) sizzled the opening quarter in :26.2.

Herschberger then urged Elektra A to the lead, reaching the point just before the three-eighths. She hit the half in a taxing :54.2 and would have to be very good to win on this night with strong winds and a real-feel temperature in the single digits.

And she was.

“The front end wasn’t good tonight,” said Herschberger. “The headwinds are pretty brutal down the lane. When the half popped up, I saw :54.2 and thought we might be in trouble here. But she had a gutsy effort and held them off late.”

A rated :29 third quarter might have given Elektra A the edge she needed, because despite taking token pressure from a first-over Take Your Pick (Braxten Boyd), the eventual winner had a :28 final quarter in her tank to hold sway to the finish by a half-length over a determined Take Your Pick, who was second at odds of 53-1. Stonecoldtreachery (James Kennedy) rallied along the inside for third.

“She definitely dug in when she heard them on her wheel,” said Herschberger.

Jeff Cullipher, the leading trainer at The Big M, schools the mare, who is owned by Pollack Racing of Venetia, Pennsylvania. She returned $6.60 to win as the 2-1 favourite and notched her 28th career win from 109 starts after stopping the clock in 1:51.2. Her career earnings are approaching $530,000.

Herschberger and James Kennedy topped the driver colony with three victories apiece while Geovany Hernandez and Jeffrey Smith led the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane each. 

Making her second appearance in 30 years as a co-host on the in-house TV presentation, Debbie Little, the U.S. Communicators Hall of Famer and Associate Editor at Harness Racing Update, followed up her six-winner performance of several weeks ago with five more on Friday, which included the Early Daily Double and four cold Exactas.

Little correctly tabbed Just My Mama ($6.80 to win, $18.40 Exacta) in the first; The Opener ($15.20, $90, $66.60 Early Double) in the second; Elektra A ($6.60) in the ninth; value play Tricky Wicky ($7, $42.60) in the 11th; and Aardiebythehill N ($2.80, $17.60) in the 13th.

All-source handle on the 14-race program totalled $2,459,049 USD.

Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with four Kindergarten Series finals sitting atop the marquee.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)