Meadowlands: Kobe's Gigi knocks off Test Of Faith in Lady Liberty

51-1 shot Kobe's Gigi, driven by Todd McCarthy, left from post eight, worked out a following trip on the inside and got by heavily-favored Test Of Faith late in the mile to win the $173,000 Lady Liberty for open pacing mares on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands in a life's-best 1:48 3/5.

Kobe's Gigi and Racine Bell (Jason Bartlett) were the two fastest leavers out of the gate, with Racine Bell hitting the front and Kobe's Gigi sliding into the pocket. Mikala (George Brennan) stalked them on the outside after floating out from post two, and she would press on and hit the engine beyond the 26 1/5 opening quarter. Test Of Faith (David Miller) got away in seventh and vacated the pylons in the backstretch.

Mikala rang up the half in 54 seconds, and Blue Diamond Eyes (Yannick Gingras) would go first-up from the fourth spot after that marker, giving Miller a helmet to follow with Test Of Faith. Blue Diamond Eyes could only get into third at the 1:21 3/5 three-quarters, though, leaving Test Of Faith with work to do and Mikala still on the front turning for home.

In the lane Miller fanned Test Of Faith out three-wide, and she would vault into the lead in mid-stretch, but McCarthy also swung out with Kobe's Gigi, and once she had the space, Kobe's Gigi had the pace to go with it, getting up to defeat 2021's Horse of the Year by a head. Amazing Dream N (Brian Sears) closed well from off-the-pace to finish third, and Lyons Sentinel (Tim Tetrick) also came on from far back to get fourth.

"She was terrific. I was surprised the way that the race unfolded. That wasn't really my initial plan, but she felt good on the gate, and it looked like I going to be able to step out of there pretty good," remarked McCarthy. "She finished up really well. Her lines show a good time there, so she showed it today.

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I didn't know a lot about her. Nifty's [trainer Nifty Norman] pretty good. If you need to know something, he'll tell you, but he had her spot on today. Full credit to him, she was an absolute pleasure to drive. She raced pretty keen throughout. I was kind of worried it was going to toll on her down the stretch there, but it didn't bother her too much. I had to wrestle her out, but when she got out and clear, she went right on."

Norman trains Kobe's Gigi, a 4-year-old daughter of JK Endofanera, for owners Leander Schwartz and Black And White Stable. This was her 10th win from 29 career starts, and she has now pocketed $365,528. She paid $105.00 to win.