The Joe Bongiorno-trained and -driven Go Go Grasshopper vaulted past opponents in the shadow of the wire to take the Saturday, Dec. 6 feature at The Meadowlands, a $24,306 high-end conditioned pace.

The three-year-old ridgling by Sweet Lou-Faster Faster, off a sparkling score from third a week ago, did the same thing again, only this time facing better company.

Go Go Grasshopper, Bondi Lockdown A (Brad Chisholm), and 3-5 favourite Sugar Man (Brett Beckwith) were all away from the gate well in the nine-horse field, with Go Go Grasshopper reaching the quarter first in :27. Sugar Man then vacated the three-hole and sprinted to the top just after the three-eighths before Lyons Steel (Jordan Stratton) then took the point while parked at the half in :55.2.

They lined up Lyons Steel-Sugar Man-Go Go Grasshopper as they went by three-quarters in 1:23.3.

“I figured I’d be in the two-hole behind Brett [Beckwith], but Jordan [Stratton] power-moved his horse," said Bongiorno." I wasn’t surprised to see Jordan go to the lead, because that horse has a lot of speed.”

When the field hit the top of the stretch, Sugar Man was out of the pocket and going after the leader with Go Go Grasshopper right behind him.

“It ended up working out really well,” said Bongiorno. “Brett slid off on the last turn. The horse on the front was done and I got to stay on [Brett’s] helmet. My horse has a big burst of speed and he’s been looking for a trip for a while.”

Go Go Grasshopper prevailed after securing the top nearing the finish. He won it by a half-length over Sugar Man with Lyons Steel third. The time for the mile was 1:50.1.

“Things didn’t work out for him this year,” said Bongiorno. “We missed most of the stakes season with him, but now, he’s a top horse getting back into form.

“We’re looking forward to seeing what’s ahead for him. We’ll stake him to the Graduate and then kind of just see how things are going.”

As the 2-1 second choice, Go Go Grasshopper returned $6.20 to win. He now has six victories from 15 career starts and earnings of $306,221 for owners Let It Ride Stables, Odds On Racing and JB Racing.

Brett Beckwith shared the day's driving honours with Joe Bongiorno as they both took three wins on the 14-race card. Beckwith also topped the drivers on Thursday and Friday to finish the three-day race week with 11 victories, the most of any driver at The Big M for one race week this year. Mark Herschberger was the first to win 10 times over a race week, but there were only two cards contested after Thanksgiving Day. Bongiorno’s two winners on Saturday paced the trainers. 

All-source handle on the card totalled $2,710,924. Racing resumes Thursday at 6:20 p.m.

(The Meadowlands)