International Flavour At Qualifiers
A trotting mare that's made a name for herself in Sweden and an Ontario-sired pacing colt campaigned by a Kiwi put forth solid efforts during the Saturday morning (May 11) qualifiers at the Meadowlands.
Darling Mearas S looks to add some depth to the already-loaded older trotting mare division. The decorated daughter of Cantab Hall, who was born nearly six years ago to the day (May 13, 2013), has been entrusted to Ake Svanstedt for her North American career and the duo was victorious with a gate-to-wire 1:56.1 mile over Pat Matters (Matt Kakaley).
A homebred owned by Snogarps Gard of Sweden, Darling Mearas S sports a career summary of 12-2-7 from 29 starts with roughly $894,000 in earnings.
After a sharp 1:52 mile in his sophomore debut at Yonkers Raceway, Ontario Sires Stakes eligible Bettors Wish sat a pocket trip behind Captain McKee (Tim Tetrick) before being right-lined by driver Dexter Dunn and powering past the pacesetter for a 1:52.4 victory.
Owned by trainer Chris Ryder along with Bella Racing Ltd., Fair Island Farm Inc., and Kenneth Solomon, Bettors Wish (Bettors Delight - Lifetime Star) boasts a 6-4-2-1 record from 13 lifetime starts with earnings in excess of $355,000. Ryder told Trot Insider that the colt was tightening for his start in next week's Art Rooney eliminations at Yonkers.
Trotting filly Evident Beauty sprinted home in :28.1 off a pocket ride from driver David Miller to win her second qualifying test of the season, holding off Beautiful Sin (Yannick Gingras) in 1:58.4. Trained by Richard 'Nifty' Norman, Evident Beauty (Trixton - Struck By Lindy) is owned by Ontario-based Mel Hartman and R A W Equine along with Jeff Gural's Little E LLC.
Greenshoe employed different tactics from his 25-plus length score in last week's qualifier, sitting off the lead and flying late to pick off temposetting Super Schissel (Gingras) in an impressive 1:55.1 score. Marcus Melander trains Greenshoe (Father Patrick - Designed To Be), a $330,000 2017 yearling purchase of Courant, Inc.
Manchego looked to be on her way to an eye-catching qualifier in her second appearance of the year before she rolled off-stride for driver Scott Zeron turning for home. That break opened to the door for the The Veteran and Mark MacDonald to take the lead and trip the timer in a sharp 1:53.4. Paul Kelley trains The Veteran (Muscle Mass - Tequila Slammer) and co-owns the NYSS graduate with S R F Stable, Jim Winske, and Stephen Michaels.
Last year's McKee Memorial winner Western Joe sizzled home in :27.2 in his second test of the year to win his qualifier in 1:52.2. Now five, the son of Western Ideal - Ante Fay is coming off a breakout 10-win season for trainer Chris Choate and owners Anthony Ruggeri & Richard Tosies in which he accrued $344,121 in purses.
For the full charted results from The Meadowlands' qualifiers, click the following link: Saturday Results - Meadowlands (Qualifiers).