Bee A Magician
tackles Market Share in all-star field of open trotters on Friday, July 17
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (July
15, 2015) – Before attention turns to
Saturday’s Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace card, racing fans would be wise to
focus on Friday night’s all-star showdown between 2013 Horse of the Year Bee A
Magician and 2012 Hambletonian champion Market Share. The pair faces off in the
$26,000 Open Trot that shares the spotlight with four $100,000 New Jersey Sire
Stakes Finals on Friday’s thirteen-race card.
Bee A Magician has been
better than ever this year. The five-year-old mare is six for seven in 2015
including a dominant win over the boys in the Cutler Memorial at the Meadowlands
in May. She has not raced since a four-length win in the Armbro Flight at
Mohawk on June 20. She tuned up for her return with 1:52.4 win in a qualifier
over Market Share and Mr. Picolit last Saturday.
“I am actually a little
surprised at how well she has raced this season so far, especially against the
males,” said the mare’s trainer Nifty Norman. “She likes to stay close to home
and enjoys getting turned out, especially in this hot weather. We have backed
off her work load and don’t train her as hard as we used to. She’s put on some
weight and is ready to get back to work.”
As dominant as Bee A Magician
has been, Market Share is just getting tuned up for a run at the second half of
the season. The career earner of $3.68 million has made just three starts this
year and none since the May 24 Maxie Lee at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
“He was a little sick in the
Maxie Lee and his blood just wasn’t where we wanted,” explained Linda Toscano,
who became the first female trainer to win the Hambletonian with Market Share
in 2012. “The back end of the season is really where the biggest races are for
the older trotters so I decided to just back off on him, get him healthy, and
point for the later part of the year.”
Toscano said Market Share’s
schedule includes all of the major events for the aged trotters starting with
the John Cashman Memorial on Hambletonian Day and the Crawford Farms Trot at
Vernon Downs on August 21.
Despite the recent injury to
Sebastian K, Toscano is expecting Market Share to have his hands full facing a
deep and competitive division of aged trotters.
“JL Cruze has been amazing
and I truly believe that if Bee A Magician had gone to Europe, she would’ve won
the Elitlopp this year,” said Toscano. “It seems like racing older horses is
catching on which is good for the sport and good for our industry, but that
means the fields are getting tougher for us.”
Friday’s field also includes
another millionaire mare, Classic Martine, and European import Mr. Picolit, who
makes his second Meadowlands start for Ake Svanstedt.
There is a carryover of
$197,368 in the final race Jackpot Super High Five. Handicappers also have
another opportunity to tackle the newest bet at the Meadowlands. Race five
offers a 20-cent Super High 5 wager with an industry low eight-percent takeout.
