One week ago, Ari Ferrari J had no chance to catch Lexus Kody in the Open Handicap Trot at The Meadowlands, lacking room until very late after sitting a pocket trip.
This time around, driver Brett Beckwith left nothing to chance, putting the Tony Alagna trainee on the lead down the backstretch and lasting to the wire in the $37,671 marquee event on the Friday night, June 6 program.
“I kind of just wanted to let him do his own thing,” said Beckwith, who sits atop the driver standings at The Big M with 83 wins. “I thought that was the way the trip would go.”
Southwind Coors (Yannick Gingras), Sir Pinocchio (Jason Bartlett), Ari Ferrari J and Outside The Fire (Johnathan Ahle) were all in the first-turn scrum in the seven-horse field (likely favourite Periculum scratched) with Sir Pinocchio on the lead at the quarter while parked in :27.1.
Beckwith and Ari Ferrari J kept digging on the outside and did not make the top until shortly before reaching the half in :55. Ari Ferrari J hit three-quarters in 1:23.1, and despite late rallies from Sir Pinocchio (who finished second) and Southwind Coors (third), held on to the wire for a safe 1-1/2-length score in a lifetime-best 1:50.1.
Owned by Ken Jacobs of Baldwinsville, New York, Ari Ferrari J returned $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favourite. The five-year-old son of Walner-Dream Child now has 14 wins from 48 lifetime starts, good for earnings over $1.27 million.
Friday's card included six $34,247 second-leg New Jersey Sire Stakes dashes for three-year-old trotters, with three divisions for colts & geldings and three for fillies.
The first colt & gelding division went to Fashion Farms homebred Mr Walner Fashion (Walner-Cooler Schooner), winning in a head decision over Hidalgo in a lifetime-best of 1:51.2 and paying $4.60 as the 6-5 favourite. Todd McCarthy worked out the winning trip for trainer Jim Campbell.
Courant's Mountcastle (Muscle Hill-Gama Bourbon FR) scored his first lifetime win in 1:51.2, paying $11.60 as the 9-2 fourth choice. He defeated favourite Top Gun Hanover by a head for driver Scott Zeron and trainer Marcus Melander.
Trainer Noel Daley's Onajetplane (Walner-Noble Lover) won his sophomore debut in a lifetime-best 1:52.1 by more than four lengths, paying $9.40 as the 7-2 third choice. Andy McCarthy was the winning driver. Daley shares ownership of last season's New Jersey Classic champion with Sjoblom Racing Inc., L A Express Stable and Joonas Jarvinen.
The first victorious filly was Moni Maker Stable's homebred Stash Some Cash (Walner-Nothing But Moni), taking a new lifetime mark of 1:52 while finishing a half-length better than My Honor. The 3-5 favourite, who paid $3.20 to win, was driven by Dexter Dunn and trained by Domenico Cecere.
Hot Lead Farm's Conversano (Muscle Hill-Celebrity Ruth) gave Andy McCarthy a NJSS double with a lifetime-best performance in 1:51.3, winning her division by 2-1/2 lengths. The Juan Cano trainee paid $9.20 to win as the 7-2 third choice.
Deja Blu (Muscle Hill-Atlanta) was a repeat NJSS division winner, scoring in a lifetime-best 1:52 by a nose over fellow Nancy Takter trainee Torrisi. Yannick Gingras drove Deja Blue for owners Crawford Farms Racing and Thomas Pontone. The winner paid $2.80 as the 2-5 favourite.
Smooth Dream continued his magnificent 2025 by making it six wins in as many starts after taking the $13,699 New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund dash for three-year-old colts & geldings on the pace for trainer Noel Daley.
The gelded son of Cattlewash-Dreamlands Latte, who won the $308,219 New Jersey Sire Stakes final two weeks ago, grabbed the lead at the quarter before sitting a two-hole trip. In deep stretch, driver Todd McCarthy vacated the pocket and got past a stubborn Twin Fury in a lifetime-best 1:49.2. He paid $2.10 as the 1-9 public choice.
The six-race Big M winning streak is the longest this year at the mile oval. Heading into the night, Smooth Dream was tied with Ill Hunt You Down, who won five in a row at The Meadowlands earlier this year.
TH Summer Lovin (Cattlewash-Waasmula) won the filly division in 1:50.2 for driver Brett Beckwith and trainer Jeffrey Smith.
Beckwith guided four winners on the program to top the driver colony, and in the process, padded his lead as the track’s leading driver to 25 over Jason Bartlett, who’s currently second. Campbell and Daley led the trainers with two winners apiece.
The 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 remains one of the best bets at The Big M. After a sequence that had winners' odds of 3-1, 6-5, 1-9, 4-5, 3-5, 9-2 and 7-2, winning tickets were exchanged for a smile-inducing $8,352.86.
All-source handle on the 14-race card totalled $2,896,193 USD.
Racing resumes on Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack; photo of Ari Ferrari J winning on June 6)