GINGRAS STARTS YEAR OFF RIGHT, WINS FIVE AT BIG MEAR OFF RIGHT

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Yannick Gingras had yet another successful year in 2021, as his horses earned $11.2 million to rank the 42-year-old driver third in the national standings, and Friday night at The Meadowlands, he got his 2022 off to a superb start by winning five times on the initial card of the year at the mile oval.

The Quebec native got his night going in the sixth race, scoring with 4-5 favorite She’s Nun Bettor N from post 10 despite extremely chilly and windy conditions (the real feel temperature was 15 degrees). His second victory came two races later when he guided 2-1 public choice Muscle Jack to victory lane, winning again from the 10 hole.

Muscle Jack

“[Muscle Jack] raced well. I was a little worried about him because at Yonkers he was a complete lunatic,” said Gingras. “He was actually pretty good to drive, he was trotting through the stretch pretty well.”

Win No. 3 came with the Jeff Cullipher-trained Birdman as the 3-5 favorite, giving Cullipher – the leading dash-winning trainer at the 2021 Winter-Spring-Championship Meeting at The Big M – his 1,000^th career victory.

#3 Birdman

Flirty Forty took the 12^th race as the 2-1 public choice to give “The Green Hornet” his fourth score of the evening before he capped his big night with his biggest price, guiding 7-1 chance Manhattanup No Ice to victory lane in the 15^th and final.

Manhattanup No Ice

“I had some power tonight and they were ready to race,” said Gingras. “I’m looking forward to staying healthy and having a good 2022.”

Gingras, who finished second to Dexter Dunn during 2021 in The Big M standings in dash wins with 116, upped his lifetime win total to 7,991 after his big night, leaving him just nine short of the 8,000-win plateau.

ANOTHER BIG PICK-5: After closing out 2021 with a big payout, shrewd 20-cent Pick-5 players hit big again Friday night.

On New Year’s Eve, bettors were thinking big as a carryover led to a total pool of over $270,000 and a payout of $27,565. Friday night, the pool may have been nowhere as large ($42,530), but after driver Joe Bongiorno scored with 20-1 chance Itty Bitty after going a brutal first-over trip in the fifth race, those with winning tickets walked away with $14,121.

A LITTLE MORE: Mark Ford recorded a training triple after completing a sweep of the Late Double ($122.20). … There were no winning tickets sold in the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of $4,540. Those with five correct cashed in for $252.28. … Free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com. … All-source handle totaled $2,797,927. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.