To say Pinny Tiger A’s 2025 started ordinarily is to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the Per Engblom trainee began the season with zero wins in six starts ...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- December 20, 2025 -- To say Pinny Tiger A’s 2025 started ordinarily is to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the Per Engblom trainee began the season with zero wins in six starts.
But ever since then, only the word ‘extraordinary’ can be used when describing this red-hot gelding.
On Nov. 11, Pinny Tiger A won the first of four in a row at Yonkers Raceway. With the Westchester half-mile oval now on a four-week break, switching from four turns to two made no difference to the 8-year-old son of Mach Three-Tigress Franco, who upped his string of victories to five as he took the $30,000 featured Open Handicap pace at The Meadowlands Saturday night.
He might not have been racing on a small track, but was handled in a fashion as though he were. Driver Brett Beckwith had ‘Pinny’ flying away from the gate from post seven in the nine-horse field, and was three-wide around the first turn as Ammo and Odds On Wildfire left underneath him.
Pinny Tiger A kept digging and had the lead while parked at the quarter in :27, and then was able to settle things down.
“I talked to Jason [Bartlett, who drove the horse in all four of his wins] actually before the race and asked him what he thought about the horse and he really seemed to like him, so that gave me a lot of confidence,” said Beckwith. “He’s from a good team, so it was all systems go.”
After backing down the second fraction to a tepid :29.2, Pinny Tiger A had things completely under control. It didn’t hurt that 3-2 favorite Go Go Grasshopper was getting a rough trip trapped along the rail, but it didn’t appear that it would have mattered in the end.
Beckwith and Pinny reached three-quarters in 1:24.2 and there was never an anxious moment from there, as he was on cruise control through the stretch, hitting the finish an easy three-quarter-length winner in a lifetime-best 1:51. Odds On Wildfire, who upset the apple cart in last week’s feature, was second, with Ammo third. Go Go Grasshopper found some space to race in the stretch and ended up fourth.
“He’s a catch driver’s dream that horse,” said Beckwith. “He leaves a thousand [miles an hour] and can go :29 just like it’s nothing, right on a loose line. He was great to drive. It makes my job really easy when horses like their job like that. They relax, and then you show them the whip and they go on again.”
After lifting his lifetime numbers to 25 wins from 65 starts, Pinny Tiger A increased his bankroll to $319,491 for owners Elite Harness Racing LLC. As the 3-1 third choice, he returned $8 to win.
A LITTLE MORE: There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of $3,928 when racing resumes. Winner’s odds for the sequence were 3-2, 3-5, 3-1, 7-1, 8-1 and 4-1. Those with five correct selections cashed in for $95.38. … Beckwith’s three-bagger led the driver colony. After winning 11 dashes for the race weeks Dec. 4-6 and 11-13, Beckwith scored 10 times this week, giving him 32 victories over the last nine racing programs. … Jake Leamon topped the trainers with two walks down victory lane. … All-source betting on the 14-race card totaled $2,689,707. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m., the day after Christmas.
