East
Rutherford, NJ - No fewer than seven major Grand Circuit stakes will populate the
Saturday night card at The Meadowlands, led by the track’s signature race, The
Meadowlands Pace.
The all-star lineup begins with a pair of high-stakes preps
for trotting’s top prizes, the August 2 Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks.
Race four is the $317,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial three-year-old
colt trot which will be the stage for last year’s top freshman Father Patrick
to battle Trixton who has emerged as a worthy adversary this season. It is the
first time these two have met, the occasion made even more intriguing by the
fact that both are trained in the Jimmy Takter stable.
Oddsmaker Darin Zoccali has Father Patrick (Yannick Gingras)
listed as a strong morning line favorite at 4/5 from post nine, while Trixton
is at 3/1 from post twelve in the second tier with trainer Takter aboard.
The $213,500 Delvin Miller Memorial for sophomore trotting fillies
also pits last year’s finest against emerging talent. Shake It Cerry was
clearly the best of a very talented crop last season, easily winning year end
awards for the Takter stable and regular driver Ron Pierce. She has
transitioned successfully to sophomore status winning four of five starts this
season and is the 9/5 choice from post seven.
Her only loss required the world record 1:51.3 effort by Designed
To Be at Pocono last month. It was the second time Designed To Be has assaulted
the record books, having taken the two-year-old title with her 1:52.2 mile last
fall in Lexington. She will have Brian Sears aboard for trainer Julie Miller on
Saturday.
The remarkably fast Cooler Schooner is the fastest freshman
trotter ever, regardless of sex by virtue of her amazing 1:51.3 win last summer
at Pocono. She is sometimes guilty of self-sabotage but can never be dismissed.
The Campbell brothers, John and Jim will conspire to manage that wicked speed
toward its best use.
The new shooter in this division is Heaven’s Door another who
demonstrated great talent at two for Ross Croghan but it took until this year
for her mind to catch up to her speed. She was sold over the winter and moved
into the Ake Svanstedt barn where she has flourished. She won last month’s NJSS
final in a stakes record 1:52 with great ease and is facing the division’s best
now for her new connections and adds another element of suspense.
Next up (race six) will be the $212,500 Mistletoe Shalee for
sophomore pacing fillies, another contentious contest. Sandbetweenurtoes raced
but once at two for Tony Alagna but showed such promise in her first few starts
at three that the brothers Remmen, Ray and Larry, bought her for John Grant and
she hasn’t lost since. She was the winner of last week’s elimination in 1:49.1
with Brett Miller aboard and will likely be the post time fave off a 5/2
morning line.
Precocious Beauty was the divisional leader last year for the
McNair barn and has yet to find that form thus far at three, though last week’s
race was encouraging. Takter’s Uffizi Hanover won the 2013 Breeders Crown and
the Fan Hanover this year for her regular pilot, newly minted Hall of Famer
David Miller.
The older dames race on the pace for $178,450 in the cleverly
named Golden Girls stake in the seventh race. Joe Holloway has always had a way
with the ladies, training several distaff champions over the years and has a
formidable pair in this one. Somwherovarainbow has well over a million in
career earnings and has been in deadly form for Joe since early spring with six
wins from ten starts, among those the Bluechip Matchmaker final. Brian Sears
drives.
Her stable mate Shebestingin is the fastest female Standardbred
ever, having seared The Red Mile clay in an eye-popping 1:47 flat last fall.
She has yet to beat the best of this division since graduating into the open
ranks but her speed make her a danger for David Miller.
The race favorite at 2/1 is the iron-tough race mare Androvette.
Her story has been told many times but never gets old, particularly for her
connections. She vaults over $3million lifetime with a win in this stake for
trainer PJ Fraley and her constant racing companion Tim Tetrick.
Just when you think, “Well, this just can’t get any better,” you
come to the meat of the card. Race 8 contains the finest Free For All pacers in
the land racing for $463,300 in the WR Haughton Memorial, one of the biggest
events of their season. The lifetime earnings for these ten horses are just
north of the $20 million mark.
Captaintreacherous is the two time defending Pacer of the Year and
a winner of over $3million in his racing career for trainer Tony Alagna. He’s
developed into a fan favorite with his gritty, never give up style and he’ll
need every bit of that heart, a large dose of speed and another clever steer
from Tetrick on Saturday. He’s drawn a favorable post starting just inside the
8/5 favorite, Sweet Lou.
Sweet Lou has flashed brilliance from the start for his
connections and still holds the freshman pacing world speed record. Now five
year of age, he’s in the best form of his career and has been invincible since
paired with driver Ron Pierce in May. Together they are five for five, all in
1:48.3 or faster culminating with a world record 1:47 the hard way at Pocono in
the Franklin, the fastest mile on a five-eighths track in history.
Sweet Lou is one of a formidable four horse armada sent out in the
Haughton by Meadowlands and national leading trainer Ron Burke. The four Burke
horses alone have amassed a staggering $12million in career earnings led by the
richest pacer in history, ageless wonder Foiled Again at $6.3 million. Foiled
will have to overcome the extreme outside post for his regular driver Yannick
Gingras in this battle.
The $776,000 Meadowlands Pace is race nine on the star studded
extravaganza and has been well covered in many arenas, so for our purposes
let’s just say it shapes up to be a very exciting and contentious race, as is
usually the case in the absence of a clear division leader.
Among the deepest and most contentious divisions this season is
the older trotting mares. The returning Horse of the Year Bee A Magician, last
year’s division leader Maven and pair of four year old mares that have
blossomed into trotting divas, Perfect Alliance and Classic Martine will all
meet among a field of eight in the $40,000 Miss Versatility in race ten.
It’s one for the ages this Saturday night at The Meadowlands with
over $2.5 million in purses offered over the 13 race card, including four
$100,000 finals for state bred freshmen. Post time is 6:30pm and it’s going to
be well attended, so if you’re thinking of coming out make your reservations now. If not, the Haughton and Pace will be
carried live on the CBS Sports Network and the TVG Racing network.
