A ‘Winter’ blast at Big M

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – After a sparkling 2025 harness racing debut that resulted in a fast-closing second-place finish to an ultra-impressive winner last week, all eyes were on Winter Soldier (Face Time Bourbon-Jumalay Mass) in the $17,500 featured conditioned trot Friday night at The Meadowlands, and the Tony Alagna trainee delivered as the 1-9 favorite in 1:55.1.

“Last week, he was very good. It was my first start with him,” said winning driver Anibal Borjas. “I was pretty nervous because he made a break three weeks before but I qualified him [on Dec. 28] and he was OK.”

That runner-up effort to the standout Ron Burke import Queen Of America S was just the right prep for Winter Soldier.

Borjas gave chalk players a bit of a scare early, as he had Winter Soldier sitting seventh to the half, but Party At Seven provided a live tow for the public choice down the backstretch. Winter Soldier then moved three-wide past three-quarters before powering past his helpless foes hitting the wire an easy length in front of the pace-setting 6-1 second-choice Finite. Voss Blue Chip was third.

WINTER SOLDIER REPLAY

Winter Soldier, a 4-year-old who started only four times during 2024, has been a project for Alagna.

“We made the decision to shut him down mid-summer as he wasn’t solid late in the mile,” said Alagna. “He came back very strong, but had a mental block late in the mile and he wasn’t usable or he would make a break.

“We added the trotting hobbles and let Anibal start driving since he has trained him at home. So far, so good, and, hopefully, we can recoup at 4 some of the money we had expected to make at 3.”

After notching his sixth career win from 18 starts, Winter Soldier now has earnings of $177,651 for owners Peter Alagna and Pryde Stables. He paid $2.20 to win.

A LITTLE MORE: Mark Herschberger, who drove four winners on the night to lead the driver colony, was the key to some big payoffs. After he scored with 28-1 shot Paige Perfect in the ninth race, the Early 50-cent Pick-4 returned $5,778.45 while the 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 came back $6,331.08 for those with six correct selections. … Herschberger, Jason Bartlett (three wins), Braxten Boyd (two) and Dave Miller (two) combined to win 11 of the 14 dashes on the card. … Bartlett has nine victories over the last two programs. … All-source handle totaled $3,067,913. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands