East Rutherford - Many of the sport’s stars were
out on Saturday night at The Meadowlands and none shown brighter than Archangel
who won the first elimination for the John Cashman, Jr Memorial trot in a world
record 1:50 flat. The mile broke a six-way tie for the fastest mile ever by a
trotter on a mile track.
Yannick Gingras sent the handsome five year old
millionaire son of Credit Winner out fast for the lead with a wicked 26.1
opening quarter then set even fractions of 54.4 and 1:22.3 in the record mile.
Archangel was a geared down length and a three quarter winner over Intimidate
with Market Share third. Your So Vain and Sevruga round out the qualifiers from
this elimination for next Saturday’s $300,000 final.
Gingras had high praise for Archangel in the post-race
interview, “I told his caretaker Sarah I was gonna roll him. He has the
ability, just hasn’t been lucky. He was staying with Sebastian K in the 1:49
mile at Pocono when he broke on the turn. I think he’ll give Sebastian some
competition in the final, I’d take it if I could cut the mile against him next
week in the final.”
Ron Burke trains the winner for Legendary Standardbred
Farm and Claire Semer.
Sebastian K was back to his winning ways in the second
elimination for Ake Svanstedt with an easy three length score in 1:51. The race
began with Creatine flying off the wings from the outside for Mike Lachance and
clearing Sebastian as they reached the quarter in a dazzling 26 flat. The pace
slowed abruptly when Lachance took up on the lead and Svanstedt was forced to
yank Sebastian K out quickly before Mister Herbie could get the jump on him
from third. He got out, though the judges flashed inquiry and reviewed the
move, and back to the top.
Sweet Justice mounted a final turn challenge but was
rebuffed with a 27.3 final quarter. Mister Herbie split horse late to be
second, Uncle Peter third in his return to US soil, Appomattox a solid fourth
and Arch Madness captured the final berth in next week’s race.
The winner is trained in the Svanstedt barn for Knutsson
Trotting and was winning for the sixth time this year in seven tries.
The 2014 Hambletonian Oaks did not require eliminations
and Racing Secretary Peter Koch offered the entrants the chance to race in a
$35,000 prep. Nine of the eleven accepted but the field was reduced to eight
with the defection Cooler Schooner, a sick scratch.
Designed To Be and Shake It Cerry would square off again
in what would prove to be a driver’s race. Posted just to the right of Designed
To Be and Brian Sears, Ron Pierce send Shake It Cerry away crisply to secure
the lead, repelled the mild bid Sears offered from the pocket then slowed the
pace through the middle fractions. Clearance would not be availed to Designed
To Be again until deep in the stretch and by then Pierce had used Cerry’s
quickness to pad the cushion on her rival, which diminished to a half-length at
the wire. Lifetime Pursuit was third.
Shake It Cerry is trained in the Jimmy Takter stable for
Solveig’s Racing Partners. It was her fourteenth win in eighteen career starts
and she has earned over $1 million.
It sets up to be a very interesting contest in the
$500,000 Hambletonian Oaks next Saturday afternoon.
The United States Pacing Championship drew nine entries
that will all advance directly to next Saturday’s $257,700 final and a $40,000
tune-up was offered to that group as well. Sweet Lou has been invincible since
uniting with Pierce mid-May and would add another sub 1:48 mile to his résumé
in this one with a 1:47.3 score. Pierce brushed the flashy pacer to the front
near the 54.1 half then strung together 27.2 and 26 flat quarters to close it
out.
Captaintreacherous went a big trip to be second, coming
from last in the field of seven at the half and pacing his individual final
half 52 flat and 25.4 last quarter to be beaten less than two lengths. Thinking
Out Loud also raced great, surviving an uncovered run at Sweet Lou and living
to tell of it, finishing third.
The winner is trained in the Ron Burke stable on behalf
of owners Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Larry Karr and Phil Collura. He has
now won his last seven starts, all in 1:48.3 or better with a five eighths mile
track world record of 1:47 flat the fastest.
The Lady Liberty required a single $40,000 elimination
when eleven Free For All quality pacing mares dropped in the box. A free pass
to the $177,750 final in the form of a bye was offered to the top seasonal
money winners and after a few declined (more on that later) Ron Burke accepted
for Rocklamation. The remaining ten went to the post with their assignment to
avoid be last and thus eliminated.
They raced it out like it was for the big money here,
with Corey Callahan sending Drop The Ball out hard, yielded to Shelliscape for
a step then removed and took on all comers. Dead game to the wire, Drop The
Ball held sway in 1:49.2 using a 26.4 final quarter to seal the deal.
Jerseylicious was a closing second and Charisma Hanover third.
On the flip side, division leader Androvette’s
connections declined the bye, then she finished last of the ten (though beaten
a mere 3 ½ lengths) and is, at this point, eliminated from the final.
When Drop The Ball is good, she’s really good and she’s
looking pretty good lately for trainer Ross Croghan and her owners; Let It Ride
Stable, Mentally Stable and Dana Parham. She won the right to select her post
for the final and she’ll have to be dealt with.
Things are shaping up nicely for a fantastic end to the
2014 Championship Meet with next Saturday’s Hambletonian program.
On the wagering front, total handle for the Saturday
program yielded an increase of nearly 10-percent from the same program in 2013,
while live handle was up nearly 15-percent.
