A field of seven Preferred trotters racing for a purse of $20,000 head up a 10-race program at the Meadowlands Racetrack on Friday evening.
The draw for post positions in the Preferred was done in handicap fashion with the stronger horses relegated to Posts 5, 6 and 7. Gural Hanover landed in the open outside Post 7 and has been installed as the 9-5 morning line favourite.
Relatively lightly raced but always effective, the six-year-old gelded son of Crazed will make but his 15th career start. He is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Little E, LLC and Panhellenic Stable Corp. Currently in top form, Gural Hanover took a new mark of 1:51 in the class just a week ago. Jordan Stratton will drive for trainer Ron Burke.
A pair of battle-tested warriors, Not Afraid (PP5, Jim Marohn Jr.) and B Yoyo (PP6, Joe Bongiorno) are the greatest threat to the favourite. Both have been competitive at a high level for quite some time, particularly Not Afraid, who won the Dexter Cup way back in 2012.
Poker and free baseball tickets are on tap for Friday night and the dinner theme in Pink is German food.
It's a weekend full of wonder with both the 2nd annual Burger Battle and BeerFest both scheduled for Saturday. Come early and stay late.
Post time is 7:15 p.m.
(With files from the Meadowlands Racetrack)