Meadowlands: Fire Start Hanover, Perfect Sting successful in Tompkins-Geers

Dan Patch Award winners Fire Start Hanover and Perfect Sting were triumphant in Tompkins-Geers events for 3-year-old pacers of both sexes on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.

In the $62,800 tilt for the fillies, Fire Start Hanover and driver Dexter Dunn slid down into fourth from post nine, then brushed to the lead racing to the 55 2/5 half-mile marker. After Fire Start Hanover cleared, 2-5 favorite Test Of Faith (David Miller), who had been able to settle in fifth from a trailing post 11, immediately challenged two-wide, and Fire Start Hanover strung her out for a while until finally releasing her on the far turn.

Test Of Faith rang up three-quarters in a hot 1:22 and turned for home first, but Fire Start Hanover angled out in the lane for another attack. Test Of Faith dug in determinedly, but Fire Start Hanover got the better of her in the last eighth and scored by a neck in 1:49. Off The Record (Corey Callahan) was the third-place finisher.

"Obviously we had to push her out pretty hard just to clear a few inside of us and get handy enough. She got out of the gate good, though," said Dunn. "I could feel David starting to edge past the quarter, so we made our move, and he came with us. She's pretty versatile. We moved to the front and then took a hold after that.

"She really swelled up when I was letting David go, and she was ready to rock. We kept her on the helmet around the turn, and she did the rest up the straight. She felt great and raced great."

Nifty Norman trains Fire Start Hanover, a daughter of Somebeachsomewhere bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, for owners Pinske Stables, David Hoese, and Lawrence Means. This was her tenth win from 17 career starts, and she has now earned $681,132. She was the 5-2 second choice and paid $7.20 to win.

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43-1 shot Gamblin Mo (Andy Miller) sped through fractions of 26 4/5, 54 4/5, and 1:22 2/5 in the $78,700 division for colts and geldings, but Perfect Sting (D. Miller), who had worked out a second-over trip behind Whichwaytothebeach (Andrew McCarthy), roared home in 26 seconds to win by a pair of lengths in 1:49. Whichwaytothebeach held off Highlandbeachsbest (Scott Zeron) for second.

"Tonight, I wanted him to finish up really good," David Miller remarked. "The opportunity was to get in a hole, and I had a good horse to follow, so that's what I did.

"I was real happy with him. He paced really good. He fired really good through the stretch, and that's something we were looking for. He answered that, so that was good."

Perfect Sting, an Always B Miki colt, is a homebred for Brittany Farms and Val D'Or Farms and is trained by Joe Holloway. He has a record of 13-2-1 from 16 appearances, and he pushed his bankroll to $841,577. Dispatched at 1-5, he returned $2.40 to win.