The purse was only $20,000 and beforehand, most would not have guessed the race would be especially memorable, but Joe Bongiorno and trotter B Yoyo made sure nobody would ever forget the sixth race at The Meadowlands on Friday night (June 9).
B Yoyo, a seven-year-old Striking Sahbra gelding, ripped out of the pocket in the evening's Preferred feature to go by the heavily favoured Gural Hanover and win going away in 1:50.2. The final time is a world record for an aged gelding over a mile track, equalling the mark set by Arch Madness (2011, 2013).
"He is one of the toughest horses I have ever sat behind," said Bongiorno. "I am totally speechless. I have never been more proud of a horse, he deserves it so much. He is all heart. I never even popped the earplugs. I am really grateful to be able to sit behind such a nice horse in a world record mile."
Gural Hanover (Jordan Stratton) made the lead from his outside post through an opening quarter-mile in :27 while B Yoyo happily settled into the pocket. Gural Hanover continued to lead the single-file field through a half-mile in :55 and three-quarters in 1:23.1. From there, it was all B Yoyo, who tipped out of the pocket and finished off the record mile with a :27 final quarter.
Richard Johnson trains B Yoyo, a 30-time career winner who has banked more than $385,000 in purses, for owners Bill Lambos and Dionisios Liberatos.
Earlier in the night, veteran horseman Todd Buter won his 1,000th career race when Stitch In Time won the opener. Buter's son Tyler was in the sulky for the milestone victory.
Eric Abbatiello closed out the card sweeping the final three races with winners that paid $16.80, $21.40 and $14.60.
Total handle on the 10-race card was $2,137,910. Racing resumes Saturday night. Post time is 7:15 p.m.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)