Among
the finalists is an unbeaten son of Muscles Yankee, Smilin Eli, who won both of
his New Jersey Sire Stakes preliminary legs. Unraced at two, those
victories were in his only two career starts. He has now banked $33,500,
with a mark of 1:54.2 taken on a sloppy track in his last outing on May 24 at
the Meadowlands.
It
has his trainer, 39-year-old Deshawn Minor, not only thinking about Saturday’s
final but the $1.5 million Hambletonian on the first Saturday in August.
“He’s
obviously a green horse, and you have to be skeptical about what the next few
weeks are going to bring,” admitted Minor, a native of Detroit, MI. “I
don’t want to guesstimate, but after speaking with [driver] Tim Tetrick, he believes
this horse has the special kind of ability to climb that mountain. Tim has let
the colt figure things out. He told me to just call him when we need him
to drive this colt. I guess he also drank the Kool Aid.
“The
owner and breeder Nick Cimino [of Pompano Beach, FL] sent him up to me around
the end of April,” explained Minor, who is based at Magical Acres in
Chesterfield, NJ. “I’ve known Nick for about eight years. He’s been
around and he’s a student of pedigrees. [Smilin Eli’s] dam Gerri’s Joy
won the 2006 Merrie Annabelle. He mentioned this colt was coming along
pretty good. Well, we’ve discovered he’s quite a fabulous horse. He
has a lot of raw talent and he’s a pleasure to be around.
“As
a two-year-old he had some soreness and was just a big, growthy colt,” Minor
noted. “He was trained down to about 2:15 and was shut down. His
knees were pretty wide open, and it just wasn’t a good idea to continue with
him.
“To
me, being affiliated with the Perretti Farms, I got the chance to see Muscles
Yankee [his sire] a lot,” observed Minor. “This colt has his bone
structure. He’s a big, wide colt, and does everything right.
Hopefully, we can keep him healthy and strong. At this point, I think we
can actually make some money in the Hambletonian. I do believe we have a
Hambletonian horse.
“He’s
staked up to everything, but our immediate plans are to just get him through
the sire stakes final,” continued Minor. “We can’t throw him to wolves
right away. Everybody will want to see him up against stakes
company. We’ll aim for that, but you have to take it race-by-race in
small steps and with the right combination. We’re really happy where he’s
at, and we’re hoping the talent we see now continues to surface. We’ll
just pick and choose our spots with the biggest thing on our list being the
Hambletonian.
“We’ve
been there with Legendary Lover K [sixth in 2000], and my brother, DeWayne was
third with Wishing Stone [in 2010], and we know it takes a lot of luck,” Minor
noted. “DeWayne is on the same boat with me this time. All we can
do is make sure the horse in the best physical shape and let him take it from
there. This colt is absolutely a longshot, but it’s okay to dream.
I mean, it’s the Hambletonian.”
Smilin
Eli drew post three in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Final, race two. He
takes on Super Classic, Corky, King Muscles, Timo Deo, Amalfi Coast and Muscle
Mountain. All are sons of Muscles Yankee.
The
colts stakes record of 1:52.1 was set by Manofmanymissions in 2011. The
gelding record of 1:54.1 has been held by Green Day since 2007.
Three-year-old
trotting fillies go postward in the fourth race, featuring preliminary leg
winners Silver Credit and Shared Past, who drew the outside posts in the field
of nine. They take on Time To Kill, Southwind Cocoa, World Tour, Vida De
Vie, Vintage Oaks, Miss Steele and Lady Dynamite.
Shared
Past and Southwind Cocoa are daughters of Chocolatier. All the others are
by Muscles Yankee.
The
stakes record for fillies is 1:52.4, established in 2006 by Passionate Glide.
Breeders
Crown winner Rockin Amadeus, who captured the opening round of the New Jersey
Sire Stakes preliminaries for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings, drew
the rail in the eighth race final.
Emeritus
Maximus [post five], Real Rocker [post six], and Johny Rock [post seven] are
also preliminary round winners.
The
finalists, in post order, are Rockin Amadeus, Rocnrolwilneverdie, Rocks N
Bonds, I’ma Giggity Fool, Emeritus Maximus, Real Rocker, Johny Rock, Rocky
Mountain Guy, Lucan Hanover and Wake Up Peter.
Rocknroll
Hanover is the sire of all the finalists except Ima Giggity Fool [Cam’s Card
Shark] and Lucan Hanover [Western Ideal].
Rock
N Roll Heaven’s 1:48.3 mile in 2010 is the stakes record for colts. Die
Lute’s 1:49.3 in 1999 is the gelding mark.
Seven
pacing fillies will face-off in the 11th race final. I Luv The
Nitelife and Ms Caila J Fra are the preliminary leg winners.
The
field, from the rail out, includes I Luv The Nitelife, Authorize, O Narutac
Rockette, JK Letitgo, Ms Caila J Fra, Jerseylicious and Panera Hanover.
Western
Ideal sired Authorize, JK Letitgo, Ms Caila J Fra and Jerseylicious. The
other three are by Rocknroll Hanover.
The
filly stakes record of 1:49.4 was set by Apple Krisp in 2004.
The
14-race program also features two $90,450/$92,950 divisions of the Golden Girls
for free for all pacing mares [races one and seven] and the $50,000 TVG Free
For All, the tenth race.
--Submitted
by Carol Hodes for SBOANJ/ Quotes courtesy of Ken Weingartner, HRC/USTA
