Eliminations
for the important two year old trotting stakes, the Merrie Annabelle and Peter
Haughton Memorial, were contested at the Meadowlands on Friday night and the
meet's leading driver and defending champ Yannick Gingras swept all three
races.
With
a dozen fillies entered in the Merrie Annabelle, byes were offered to and
accepted by top money winners Cee Bee Yes and Shake It Cerry. That left ten
fillies to pare down to eight and Lifetime Pursuit continued to impress and
remain unbeaten with a comfortable 1:55.2 score, matching her record. Yannick
moved her to the front by the three eighths and the race, for all intents and
purposes, ended there. Cooler Schooner held the place and Heaven's Door
raced well to be third after an early miscue.
By winning the elimination, Lifetime Pursuit gains the advantage
of having her connections select her post position for the $321,700 final on
Hambletonian Day. She is trained by Hall of
Famer Jimmy Takter, who holds a very strong hand for the final. The Cantab Hall
- Queen Of Grace filly is a homebred, owned by Hall of Famer George Segal's
Brittany Farms.
The
Peter Haughton Memorial drew fourteen entrants, so two fields of seven went
postward with ten advancing. Southwind Spirit, one of the more visible
representatives of Muscle Hill's successful first crop, rebounded from a narrow
defeat in the NJSS final to win the first division. Gingras set him out in
the passing lane up the backstretch and ground up uncovered, moving away to a
clear 1:57.3 win. Derby rallied in the stretch but could cut into the
margin, while Quikwit held for third.
Ronnie
Burke trains the colt, who is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver-Bruscemi,
LLC and Stable 45.
The
second elimination shaped up as a rematch between two very good colts and
Father Patrick avenged his only career loss by nipping Nuncio in the shadow of
the wire, trotting the fastest mile in the history of the stake, 1:53.4, albeit
in an elimination. The Cantab Hall colt from Gala Dream will also have the
opportunity to settle an old score for his brother, Pastor Stephen, who won the
Haughton final in 2010 but was disqualified.
Father
Patrick, also a Brittany bred, is owned a group that is identified by the
colt's name. He is trained by Takter and was driven by Gingras. Yannick will
have a pair of choices going into the $280,500 Haughton final, deciding between
winning colts for his mount and then the starting point for his selection.
Betting handle was solid once again, total handle topped $2.4
million, an increase of 46-percent. In addition, live handle was up
25-percent on pleasant evening in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
