East Rutherford, NJ –– Green Manalishi S ($20.60) outlasted a first-over grind to collar Osterc in 1:50.3 in the first $70,000 Hambletonian harness racing elimination on Saturday (Aug. 3) at The Meadowlands, while fourth-place finisher Gimpanzee suffered defeat for the first time after winning the first 12 races of his career.
Now an eight-time winner, the son of Muscle Hill commenced his uncovered bid out of fourth just beyond a :54.4 half mile, advancing steadily on the far turn in line to Tim Tetrick to engage 30-1 long shot Osterc (Yannick Gingras) at the midpoint of the far turn. The pair dueled the length of the stretch, with Green Manalishi S just reaching in the final strides. Osterc was a game runner-up, while Soul Strong (Dexter Dunn) launched a belated rally down the grandstand side to finish third.
Gimpanzee (Brian Sears), sent off the 2-5 favorite, gapped third-over cover but finished evenly to save fourth, and Cantab Fashion (Scott Zeron) finished fifth.
Marcus Melander trains Green Manalishi S for Courant Inc.
The top five finishers from each elimination will advance to the $1 million Hambletonian final, carded as race 12 at The Meadowlands.
by James Witherite, for the Hambletonian Society