Meadowlands: Captain Kirk bests big names in Tompkins-Geers

Captain Kirk sailed right down the road to a 1:48 3/5 win in the $84,800 Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old male pacers at the Meadowlands, defeating the likes of Meadowlands Pace champion Tall Dark Stranger.

Joe Bongiorno launched Captain Kirk to the lead from post eight at the 26 4/5 opening quarter and left Rogerthat Bluechip (David Miller) parked to the 54 3/5 half. Allywag Hanover (Tim Tetrick), who sat two-wide from post four, and Tall Dark Stranger (Yannick Gingras), who floated away from post ten, moved three-wide to get around Rogerthat Bluechip and assume the first-over and second-over positions on the far turn, but Captain Kirk continued to lead to the 1:22 1/5 three-quarters.

In the stretch Allywag Hanover and Tall Dark Stranger both had every chance to go by the pace-setter, but a 26 2/5 last kicker sealed the win for Captain Kirk as he beat Allywag Hanover by three-parts of a length. Sandbetweenmytoes (Dexter Dunn) gained for third, leaving Tall Dark Stranger out of the top three for the first time in his career.

The runner-up in the Meadowlands Pace elimination, Captain Kirk rebounded to win after finishing seventh in the final. A Captaintreacherous colt, Captain Kirk is trained by Tony Alagna for co-owner/breeder Brittany Farms LLC. and co-owners Marvin Katz, Brad Grant, and Captain Kirk Racing. This was Captain Kirk's second career win, and he returned $35.60 to win.

Rocknificent (Scott Zeron), Lady Lou (Andrew McCarthy), and Peaky Sneaky (Dunn) battled three-wide to the wire in the companion $53,100 Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old pacing fillies, and Rocknificent prevailed by a head in 1:49 1/5 for Linda Toscano and owners Enviro Stables LTD., South Mountain Stables, and Little E LLC. Rocknificent, also by Captaintreacherous, picked up her seventh lifetime victory and returned $4.80 to win.

Trotting mares were also in action in a single $40,000 division of the fourth leg of the Miss Versatility Series. Both Atlanta and Manchego skipped this race, and Plunge Blue Chip (Ake Svanstedt) took advantage of their absence, rallying from sixth and third-over at three-quarters to score by a nose over Kenziesky Hanover (Corey Callahan) in 1:52 2/5. Princess Deo (McCarthy) was another head back in third.

Svanstedt also trains Plunge Blue Chip, a 5-year-old daughter of Muscle Mass, and he owns her with breeder Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and their partner Tomas Andersson. Plunge Blue Chip made her 20th appearance in the winner's circle and returned $2.80 to win as the wagering choice.