Meadowlands: Pinkman, Highalator open series action with victories

The Meadowlands is in the midst of a revival, and 2015 Hambletonian winner Pinkman joined the celebration on Saturday night by winning the first leg of the Mr Muscleman, a $30,000 Open trotting series, for driver Yannick Gingras.

Pinkman, now trained by Per Engblom after the retirement of Jimmy Takter, took the lead before the quarter from Top Flight Angel and had to fend off a pesky Sheez On A Cruze through fractions of 27 4/5, 56 1/5, and 1:24 3/5. Once into the homestretch Pinkman veered out a bit, but Gingras kept the 7-year-old's attention, and the gelding responded with a 28 1/5 final quarter to complete the mile in 1:52 4/5.

It was the first victory in three starts in 2019 and 20th career triumph for the veteran, now with $2,760,037 in lifetime earnings. Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Pinkman returned $5.20 to win, with Top Flight Angel second and Party At The Banks third. Early-season star Trolley found room inside late for fourth.

Highalator continued his dominance of the upper echelon pacing set, showing himself early and finishing off a mile and a sixteenth effort impressively in capturing the $30,000 first leg of the Golden Receiver for driver Richard Still.

With a dozen in the field, the first leg of the Golden Receiver offered an added distance, but Highalator had the front in short order from post three and marched to the quarter in 26 1/5 with Classy Dragon yielding for the pocket. Still backed down the half in 55 1/5 as few wanted to challenge the 8-5 favorite. Fractions remained tepid as Highalator hit three-quarters in 1:23 1/5 and the mile in 1:50 2/5 before sprinting off with a 13 2/5 final eighth to win comfortably.

Classy Dragon was a solid second at 33-1 for Joe Bongiorno, with Eddard Hanover getting the best of a rail-sitting trip for third. Second choice Donttellmeagain was mired fourth-over in a slow-moving outer flow and did finish well but had to settle for fifth.

Highalator has won three of his last four races at the Meadowlands since arriving from Delaware in March for trainer Jenny Bier. The 5-year-old by Somebeachsomewhere paid $5.40 to win.