The journey was circuitous, but driver Brett Beckwith used the GPS in his head to guide Resolve To Win to the winner’s circle nonetheless in the Friday, March 6 feature at The Meadowlands, a $34,247 Winners Over on the trot.

“He’s a handy horse and really tries hard,” said Beckwith, who needed both from the Rico Robinson trainee to grab the victory.

Asteroid (Colin Kelly), Resolve To Win, High Speed Swan (Braxten Boyd) and Super Duper Cooper (Mark Herschberger) – the top four betting choices in the eight-horse field – all left the gate with a sense of urgency with Resolve To Win grabbing the point out of the first turn. He led by the narrowest of margins over a headstrong High Speed Swan at the quarter in :27.2.

The action was furious down the backside, as Super Duper Cooper was on the front after the three-eighths before yielding the point to Finite (Tyler Miller), who hit the half in :55.4.

At that point, Resolve To Win was shuffled back in the three-hole, racing in sixth, but Beckwith went into rabbit-out-of-a-hat mode, squeezing the eventual winner into a live flow third-over before Finite passed three-quarters in 1:25.

Resolve To Win swung three-wide off the cover of Call Option (Joe Bongiorno) and started his rally through the stretch, and when they reached the wire, the six-year-old gelded son of Resolve-Sensual Hall had completed his magical mystery tour with a walk down victory lane. It was a half-length back to Super Duper Cooper with Asteroid third, as Robinson students all owned by Pennsylvania's Pollack Racing finished 1-2-3. The mile went in 1:53.1.

“It probably wasn’t the ideal trip,” said Beckwith. “Thankfully, he’s a pretty handy horse who is able to overcome things.”

As the 3-5 favourite, Resolve To Win returned $3.40 to his backers. 

Resolve To Win has now won 28 of 93 lifetime starts, good for nearly $520,000 in purse earnings.

Brad Chisholm led the driver colony on the night with three winners, whose odds were 7-2, 9-2 and 33-1.

For a second consecutive week, there will be a pair of carryovers awaiting players for the Saturday night card. The $1 Pick 8 went unhit for a fifth consecutive offering, upping the carryover to $77,471. Winners' odds for the sequence were 9-2, 2-1, 3-5, 11-1, 7-2, 6-1, 9-2 and 3-5. Those with six correct collected $213.90. The 20-cent Pick-6 also failed to yield a winning ticket. After a sequence where the winners' odds were 6-1, 9-2, 3-5, 3-5, 6-1 and 33-1, those with four correct collected $12.86. The carryover is $5,104. The $1 Pick 8 is available on races three through 10 while the 20-cent Pick-6 is offered on races eight through 13.

Meadow Twaddle was back on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set back doing what she does best. Picking winners. Twaddle had six on top with plenty of exotics along the way. Her hit parade included Bizys Beatle in the first race ($3 to win); Big Nudge in the second ($9, daily double $17.20); Interview Fra A in the fifth ($3.40); Remarkable De Vie in the eighth ($15.20, exacta $49.40); Resolve To Win in the 10th ($3.40, exacta $13, trifecta $35.40); and Leave And Roll in the 11th ($3.20, exacta $13.80).

All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,410,672 USD.

Racing resumes on Saturday at 6 p.m., when The Meadowlands will celebrate International Women’s Day with an all-female, five-member TV talent team.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)