East Rutherford, NJ – The Saturday night (May 16) card
at The Meadowlands offers six stakes including the $183,650 Arthur J Cutler
Memorial trot, the first TVG Open Pace of the season and the opening leg of the
New Jersey Sires Stakes (NJSS) for three-year-old pacers.
The Cutler (race seven) field is a stellar yet evenly matched
field of ten and promises to be an excellent betting affair.
2013 Horse of the Year Bee A Magician has begun the new season
with aplomb. After a track-record performance at Yonkers in her first start,
she handled this exact group with ease in last week’s Cutler
prep employing a forwardly placed strategy from post ten in 1:51.4. She
has drawn a touch better this week, beginning from the eight box with regular
driver Brian Sears back in the bike after Scott Zeron handled her so
beautifully in the prep. The champion mare is conditioned by Richard “Nifty”
Norman for owners Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and David Mc Duffee.
Both Wind Of The North and Melady’s Monet acquitted themselves
well last week in their first forays versus the top Open stakes types with Wind
Of The North finding a late seam to rally for second and Melady’s Monet surviving
a sustained grind for third behind “Queen Bee”. Market Share had the look of a
horse that needed one and with that now under his belt should be more of a
factor in the final.
The $50,000 TVG Open Pace (race eleven) is a quality over quantity
proposition with six solid sidewheelers taking the stage. The race marks the
four-year-old debut of last year’s North America Cup winner JK Endofanera. He
made over a million dollars while winning half of his twenty 2014 outings for
owners 3 Brother Stable of New York and trainer Ron Burke. Yannick Gingras has
the drive.
The competition includes last year’s Canadian Pacing Derby winner
Modern Legend who is closing in on the $1 million mark in career earnings for
his owner/trainer David Drew. Warrawee Needy is one of four pacers (the others
being Holborn Hanover, Somebeachsomewhere and He’s Watching) that lay claim to
the fastest race mile ever, a dazzling 1:46.4 accomplished over The Meadowlands
strip in 2013. Doo Wop Hanover, Dovuto Hanover and Wake Up Peter complete the
field.
2014 Dan Patch two-year-old pacing colt award winner Artspeak
makes his seasonal bow in the NJSS (race four). The defending NJSS champ was
also the winner of both the Metro and Governor’s Cup while earning nearly three
quarters of a million dollars last season. Trainer Tony Alagna and owners
Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and In The Gym Partners embark on a
season of high hopes for Artspeak and his young driver Scott Zeron.
Post time for live racing is 7:15pm on Saturday, making a nice
follow up to American Pharoah’s attempt at the middle jewel of the Triple
Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course which is schedule to be off
at 6:18pm. A list of the day's
activities is available on The Meadowlands website.
