Cancelliere Brothers Shine In Qualifiers
Breakfast With The Babies (BWTB), sponsored by Fashion Farms, went to post on a perfect, windless Saturday morning under clear skies with temperatures in the 80’s. Brothers Tom and John Cancelliere had a big day with a couple of sharp looking sons from Sweet Lou’s first crop winning impressively this morning.
The pacing colt portion of the program got started in a big way in race 7 when Admiral Ballsy left hard from his outside post and set fast fractions of :28.1, :56.3 and 1:24.4 before giving way late to the pocket sitting Sugar Factory who swept past and paced through the wire handily in 1:52.3. Captain Cash held to be second and Captain Crunch closed well to be third in the fast mile. Tom Cancelliere trains the winner for his brother John, who gave $65,000 for the Sweet Lou colt from Cam Swifty at Harrisburg. Birnam Wood Farms and Meirs are the breeders and David Miller was in the bike.
The Cancelliere brothers and came back to win with another Sweet Lou, this one named Love Me Some Lou, in 1:55.4. Driver Corey Callahan sent him out from post 8 right into the pocket, sat chilly behind Waterway’s pace then zipped by that rival in the :27 last quarter for the win. Captain Trevor rallied wide to be second. Love Me Some Lou, a $95,000 Lexington yearling, was bred by Spring Haven Farm.
Taylor Swiftly opened the day a 1:56.3 winner for trainer-driver Domenico Cecere. She cut the mile, a half in :59 and three-quarters in 1:28.1, then sprinted home in :28.2 untouched to win by four lengths over Susy. The Trixton filly from True Diva is a Lindy Farms homebred.
American Kronos won the second, converting a pocket trip for driver Andy Miller to a 1:59.4 win in her very first start. Girl With A Past closed strongly to get up for second. The winner is by Donato Hanover and owned by Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld and David Goodrow and was bred in Italy by Allevamento Kronos.
The third race was a throwback special as Chris Ryder set slow fractions with The Light In Me, arriving at the three quarters station in a leisurely 1:33.4. The result was a :29.2 sprint home where Montevideo swept by the leader and held safe over Quiksilvr Blue Chip in 2:03.1. The winner is a Brittany Farms bred EL Titan colt bought at the Harrisburg sale for $70,000 by Howard Taylor and Order By Stable and trained by Ake Svanstedt. Oskar Florhed sat in the bike.
Brady Bunch was a 1:58.1 winner for Marcus Miller in race 4. Going gate to wire, the Muscle Mass colt was not asked until mid-stretch when he responded by widening to win as he pleased under his own power. Practical Cat held second. Brady Bunch, bred by Patty Hogan, was an $82,000 Harrisburg buy for Mike Anderson, Joe Faraldo and Kentuckian Racing Stable. Erv Miler is the trainer.
Pacing fillies came around next and Patty Hogan bred another winner in Entwined. After stealing slow fractions Entwined spun off a :57.3 final half to get the win over a closing American Love. Both are American Ideal fillies trained by Tony Alagna. The winner is owned by the trainer and the breeder who got her for the bargain price of $9,000 at Harrisburg last fall. Brett Miller was in the sulky.
Alagna sent out the next winner as well in Passion Struck, who took over on the backstretch and coasted home in hand for the 1:56.4 clocking over Funny Said. She is a Western Ideal bred by Steve Stewart and the Shetlers, who brought a winning bid of $52,000 from Brad Grant at the Lexington sale. Andrew McCarthy sat in the bike.
Major Deception, piloted by Brett Miller, put on a speed show as the Captaintreacherous colt from Loving Caroline set all the numbers finishing a mile in 1:53.1 mile with a :27 final quarter while holding Rockin Jimmy Brown at bay. In The Gym, Martha Frank, Robert LeBlanc, Steve Head and Joe Sbrocco gave $130,000 for the Diamond Creek bred Major Deception last fall in Lexington.
Wolfgang, perched at the top of Ken Warkentin’s Road to the Hambletonian, went a conditioning qualifier in 1:53, closing into a :28.2 last quarter to get up under his own power with trainer Jimmy Takter driving. He’s expected to race next in the Stanley Dancer Memorial, which is shaping up to be quite an event on Meadowlands Pace night, July 14.
Baby race charts may be accessed here. Next week’s BWTB will start at 11:00 am.
Live racing tonight at 6:35 p.m. with the Meadowlands Pace eliminations, $250,000 Graduate Series finals, Fan Appreciation night and the first annual Wienertonian dog racing spectacular.
(With files from the Meadowlands Racetrack)