ITS SATURDAY NIGHT, GEM QUALITY DEAD HEAT AT BIG M
After a cutthroat stretch battle, there was no clear-cut winner of the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands, as Gem Quality and Its Saturday Night finished in a dead heat for win in the $20,000 high-end conditioned pace ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- April 19, 2025 -- After a cutthroat stretch battle, there was no clear-cut winner of the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands, as Gem Quality and Its Saturday Night finished in a dead heat for win in the $20,000 high-end conditioned pace.
Its Saturday Night grabbed the lead at the three-eighths and led the field past the half in :56.3 as 4-5 favorite Gem Quality, making his first start of 2025, sat in the three-hole. As the field started to move onto the far turn, Dexter Dunn activated Gem Quality and gradually made up ground on the leader racing uncovered on the rim as Its Saturday Night, the 5-2 second choice, hit three-quarters in 1:24.1.
Then, the battle was on.
Dave Miller continued to get pace from Its Saturday Night the length of the stretch as Gem Quality inched closer nearing the wire. Very late, Zeppole Hanover was moving well along the inside after a pocket trip and looked for an 8-1 surprise, but he would finish a head behind the top two as a final surge by Gem Quality earned him a shared winner’s circle photo. The time for the mile was 1:50.3.
“He had only one qualifier coming into tonight but it was a good qualifier,” said Dunn of Gem Quality, who is trained by Chris Ryder. “He was good in the straight there. Some pretty good horses hit the line together. I knew it was going to be a pretty good last quarter. My horse really knuckled down.”
Gem Quality, a 4-year-old son of Captain Crunch-Twinkle, recorded his eighth lifetime win in 25 tries while lifting his lifetime earnings to just short of $660,000. He paid $2.20 to win.
“I thought it was an excellent effort,” said Nifty Norman of his trainee, Its Saturday Night. “He’s not really a front-end horse. I think he’s only won one other race on the lead in his life. He really improved off his run from last week [when a close second in his seasonal debut].”
A 4-year-old gelded son of Always B Miki-Night Music, Its Saturday Night paid $2.80 after winning for the sixth time in 28 lifetime tries. His earnings are now almost $280,000.
GLASER TOP ‘CAPPER: Robert Glaser ended the night with a bankroll of $798.65 to win the fourth leg of the Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest. He and second-place finisher Jim Bohnarczyk ($650.80) have now earned spots in the $10,000 end-of-the-year competition that will have only 20 players. The next edition of the monthly $1,000 test is on Friday, May 16.
A LITTLE MORE: Brett Beckwith won four times on the program to pad his lead atop The Big M driver standings. The 22-year-old pilot now has 60 wins this year. … Jason Bartlett guided three to victory lane and is second in the standings with 49 victories. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,503,606. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.