Gallantly completed a series sweep as he drew off to victory in the $47,500 Charles Singer Memorial for three-year-old trotters on Friday night at the Meadowlands.
Gallantly and Tim Tetrick cleared the lead past the half and matched strides with First Notable Chip (Brian Sears) into the stretch. Gallantly dismissed his challenger mid-way down the lane and edged away to a 2 1/4-length victory over pocketsitter Autumn Escapade (Dave Miller) in 1:55. Koala Kat (Chris Page) was a distanced third. Sent off the 1-5 favorite, Gallantly paid $2.60 to win the fifth race feature.
"We had the outside post so we had to move out the gate to get close," Tetrick said. "I got behind Brian [Sears and First Notable Chip] in the first turn and I wanted to make sure he was behind me after that. I just moved to the front and I was hoping he would stay on the front, and he did."
It was the third straight victory for Gallantly, who romped twice in the preliminary rounds of the Singer Series. Owner Jerry Silva acquired the son of Varenne-Southwind Candie for $50,000 at the 2007 South Florida Sunshine Sale, which features two-year-olds in training. Gallantly raced under the care of trainer Ron Gurfein before entering Ross Croghan's barn for the winter.
"He didn't race that well at first, but in Lexington he was able to win in 1:56.3 [his final two-year-old start]," Jerry Silva explained. "We stopped with him and then brought him along this year. He made 10 breaks in 10 starts so we put the trotting hobbles on him. He's going in for throat surgery on Monday, so hopefully that will make him a little better and we will bring him back in March for the Horse and Groom Series."
Earlier in the card, Bob Hechkoff won the $5,000 American Harness Drivers Club Fall Pacing Series Final behind Northern Cloud in 1:57.2. David Yarock and Shania Twain were four lengths behind in second, while Harry Landy and Blue Man Group held third. Jim Doherty Jr. trains the winner and runner-up. For more information about the American Harness Drivers Club, click here.
In the $24,000 Preferred Trot, Dink Adoo overcame Post 9 to pick up his 61st career win for trainer Jen Rucker and The Panhellenic Stable Corp. of Oyster Bay, New York.
In rein to Dave Miller, the nine-year-old son of Inquirer sat in fifth while Prime Interest (Daniel Dube) charged to the lead from Post 10. After a :27.3 opening quarter, Sauce Two K (Tim Tetrick) squirted out from third and advanced to the front reaching the half in :55.4. The favoured Scorpian Moon (Brian Sears) then rolled first-over providing Dink Adoo with cover en route to the third quarter station in 1:25.2. The 3-1 third choice, who has earned $836,646 in his career, kicked into action and sprinted past the field for the win in 1:54.2.
Longshot Sir Spitsbergen (Ron Pierce) finished two and a half lengths back in second while Scorpian Moon rounded out the top three.
Sportsfancy shined in the $24,000 Mares Preferred Pace giving driver Brian Sears his third win on the card.
The four-year-old daughter of Sportsmaster got away third but made her winning move after the :27.1 opening quarter. The 9-5 second-choice was on top by the half in :55. Sportsfancy led the way past the 1:24 third quarter mark and powered home in :27.2 for the win in 1:51.2.
Go On BB (Yannick Gingras) finished over four lengths back in second and U All BB (Dave Miller) was third.
Joshua Green trains the winner of 30 races and over $623,898 for Larry Baron of Horsham, Pennsylvania.
To view Friday’s results, click here.
(With files from NJSEA)