Maybe the trip didn’t go exactly as driver Yannick Gingras had hoped, but he made it work nonetheless in the Saturday night (Feb. 15) feature at the Meadowlands Racetrack, as he scored with Im Some Graduate in a $31,250 high-end conditioned pace.
The seven-year-old gelded son of Somebeachsomewhere-Western Graduate, dismissed by the bettors at odds of 14-1, was away in good order, sitting second to the quarter behind 9-5 second choice McThriller in :27.2.
Brushing to the top before the half was Eddard Hanover, pushing Im Some Graduate back into the three-hole. As the train developed on the rim with Stonedust providing a live tow for 8-5 favourite Americanprimetime, Im Some Graduate was in a tough spot approaching the head of the stretch.
Off the far turn, Gingras guided Im Some Graduate three wide as Eddard Hanover and Stonedust weakened. Americanprimetime tipped off his cover and grabbed the lead with an eighth of a mile to go and looked like the winner, but Im Some Graduate swung to that one’s outside late. With a final burst of speed, Im Some Graduate nailed the favourite by a head in 1:50.3 on a 28-degree night with a track variant of -1. Decision Day rallied to grab third.
Im Some Graduate returned a healthy $31.40 to his backers as the fifth choice in the seven-horse field, but clearly belonged if you take Gingras’ word for it. “I believe he won the last time he raced [at the Meadowlands] at a higher class.” Gingras was right, of course, as I’m Some Graduate won the Preferred for pacers in his last Big M appearance in December of 2018.
“They race him at Yonkers most of the time but he loves this track,” said Gingras. “He’s just a nice horse.”
The Ron Burke trainee, who is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Lawrence Karr, has now won 21-of-98 lifetime starts, good for earnings of $453,383.
A LITTLE MORE: It only took two weeks to create some 20-cent Pick-6 buzz. The new wager was not hit, creating a carryover of $14,376 heading into the next race card. Those who had five out of six cashed in for $165.24.
Driver Andy Miller had a natural hat trick, winning the sixth, seventh and eighth races. Corey Callahan also recorded three wins on the card.
The remarkable Preppy Art won the 13th and final race of the night, giving him 10 wins in his last 15 starts after registering zero victories in his previous 59 tries. He was claimed out of the race for $10,000 by trainer Nick Surick.
All-source wagering on the 13-race program totaled $2,665,111, marking the sixth time in the last seven cards that wagering exceeded $2.5 million.
Racing resumes Friday at 6:55 p.m.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)