The 2024 edition of Breakfast with the Babies, graciously sponsored by Jules Siegel’s Fashion Farms, got underway under ideal conditions on Saturday, June 8 at The Meadowlands. The sky was clear, temperatures were around 73°F  /  22°C and track was fast.

Headlining today’s bill was the usual array of expensive young talent along with several representatives of the hotly-anticipated first crop of Tall Dark Stranger, who did not disappoint.

Quite possibly the most impressive performance of the morning was by the Captaintreacherous filly Ascendance, who was basically restrained by driver Scott Zeron throughout a remarkable 1:54.4 mile to be a geared-down three length winner over a willing Ronstadt (Todd McCarthy).

Zeron settled Ascendance into third early in the :30.2 quarter from her outside post, but she was having none of that. Off to the front through fractions of :58.1 and 1:26.3, about as slow as Zeron could get her to go, and she finished in hand.

An imposing bay, Ascendance is from the top race mare and producer Higher And Higher. Trained by Linda Toscano, she was bred by Steve Stewart, Conquest Acres and David Schmucker, Jr and purchased by Jablonsky Held Stable, Joe Sbrocco, Bill Elliott and In The Gym Partners for $260,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

The curtain raiser featured a field of four trotting colts with a combined worth of $580,000, should one choose to use their selling price at last fall’s yearling auctions as a barometer.

Ake Svanstedt opened a winner with the Chapter Seven colt Happy Jack B, converting a pocket ride into a comfortable 2:00.2 victory, using a :28.2 final quarter to hold Civilian Drone (Yannick Gingras) at bay by a length.

The winner was a $110,000 Lexington purchase by B Nasstrom Holding Inc, Wolfgang A Stable Inc, Joe Sbrocco & JAF Racing and was bred by Winbak Farms.

Goodgirl Bi (Mattias Melander) inherited the lead by three-quarters when the leader self-destructed, and then took the second race over a fast-closing Time For Landing (Andy McCarthy) in 1:59.4.

Champagne Problems (Gingras) showed promise despite wandering then going off-stride while cutting the mile and Beautiful Sight (Svanstedt) also impressed after a break just after the start.

Goodgirl Bi is from the second crop of Greenshoe, bred in Italy by Az Agricola Biasuzzi and owned by Courant, Inc. Marcus Melander trains.

The Walner filly Kendra (Gingras) was powerful this morning, notching the fastest mile time on the trot. She led all the way in a 1:57 romp, home in :29 with her driver only calming her through the stretch. Amazon Fashion (Tetrick) was a willing second, inheriting that position when Morning Angel went off stride late while in pursuit of the winner.

Kendra, bred by Karen Carroll, was a $140,000 Harrisburg purchase by Black Horse Racing and Eric Good who entrusted her care to Nancy Takter.

Dexter Dunn arrived in time for race four and immediately set to winning, converting a perfect pocket trip into a 1:58.2 career start for the Chapter Seven colt Super Chapter. They followed stablemate Meshuggah (Mattias Melander) from the word go until mid-stretch where Dunn tipped Super Chapter from behind the leader, and he went by very willingly through the :28.4 final panel. Meshuggah held sway for second.

Marcus Melander trains the winner for Jeff Snyder and Arthur Pronti, who paid the princely sum of $300,000 to secure the colt from Hanover Shoe Farm at the Harrisburg sale.

Mr Mouton (Svanstedt) was a very impressive winner this morning, setting all the fractions then powering away from his rivals with a snappy :27.4 end to the 1:57.4 mile under no encouragement from the driver. Blue Cartier (Gingras) followed throughout but proved to be no match on this day.

Another by top sire Chapter Seven, Mr Mouton was bred by Kevin Greenfield and sold for $140,000 at Lexington to Knutsson Trotting, Little E LLC, Dave Stolz, Art Geiger, and Jorgen Sparredal.

Scott Zeron got on the board with the Walner filly R Lady W who closed resolutely through the :28.2 end of the 1:57.3 mile to get the win over Royal Mission (Dunn). Conditioned by Linda Toscano, R Lady W was a $290,000 Lexington buy from breeder Lindy Farms. She races with M&L Of Delaware listed as lessee.

Two exceptionally well-bred Chapter Seven colts went to the wire together in the seventh race, with the bargain-priced $25,000 Lexington yearling Banksy Monkey (Tetrick) clearing through inside a drifting leader, getting jump on, then holding off the strong close of his opponent Maryland (Dunn) — a $475,000 Lexington yearling — for the 1:59.1 win.

Lucas Wallin trains and owns the winner in partnership with breeder Order By Stable, who chose to stay in at the shockingly low price on the brother to the great Gimpanzee. Today, it certainly looks as though Lucas made a great buy.

Pink Chou Chou (Dunn) is owned by Crawford Farms Racing and trained by Nancy Takter, and it looks like the girls may have another reason to get new outfits as the Chapter Seven half-sister to the great Manchego followed the leader Credit Worthy (A. McCarthy) until mid-stretch then brushed by that rival through the :28.3 final quarter of the 1:59.1 mile. Credit Worthy held the place.

Pink Chou Chou sold for $225,000 at Harrisburg and was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms.

Pacers came around in race nine and we got our first look at the Tall Dark Strangers.

Realmenwearblu got the first crop off to a flying start with a front-running 1:56.3 win, off a half in a minute, last quarter in :28 as he pleased over a brother from another mother, Strangerinthenight (A. McCarthy) who was gaining mildly on the wrapped-up winner.

Realmenwearblu physically resembles and hails from several of the same connections as his famous sire. Nancy Takter trained both and owns a share of the winner with Patrick Hoopes, R A W Equine and Rojan Stables, while Yannick Gingras was along for the ride. Crawford Farms, also a partner on the sire, bred the colt who sold for a sensible $42,000 at Lexington last fall.

Wavemaker (Zeron), another by Tall Dark Stranger, was a 1:56.3 winner, asked late to gamely hold off closers on both sides as Oogleville (Jason Bartlett) rallied wide for second while Blue Onyx (Gingras) came through inside for third. This colt, from a Captaintreacherous dam with a classic Brittany Farms maternal pedigree, seemed to resemble that line physically.

The winner was a $300,000 Lexington purchase with breeder Brittany Farms retaining a piece to join Myron and Stephanie Bell’s Riverview Racing, Steve Head and Pryde Stables. Tony Alagna trains.

Another big-ticket Captaintreacherous filly, Duration (Dunn) rallied from off the pace to sweep by the field for a 1:54.4 (last quarter in :27.1) win for trainer Tony Alagna. Dunn followed the cover of stablemate Simply Perfect (A. McCarthy) until late in the stretch before sliding over and asking Duration for pace. She responded to get by Simply Perfect, who stayed on for second.

Equalling the fastest two-year-old mile of the morning, Duration was a $200,000 Lexington buy for Robert Leblanc, Joe Sbrocco, Pryde Stables and JAF Racing. Michael Robinson, Robert Mondillo, Steve Cheatham and Steve Stewart are the filly's breeders.

Captaintreacherous capped off a big day with a 1:56 winner Captain Optimistic (Gingras) who stormed out of the pocket with a :26.2 close to get the win over the game pacesetter Attaboychet (Anibal Boras). The winner is another Nancy Takter trainee who was a $160,000 Harrisburg investment by 3 Brothers Stables, Marvin Katz and Caviart Farms. Fair Winds Farm is the breeder.

The full set of two-year-old qualifiers is available below.

A few qualifiers with notable horses making their early appearances followed the two-year-olds.

Dan Patch Award winning freshman trotting filly of 2023, Soiree Hanover (Tetrick) was a winner at first asking over the 2023 Breeders Crown winner Warrawee Michelle (Svanstedt) in 1:54.4. Both performed as expected, restrained through early stages then finishing well in tandem through a :27 final quarter.

Live harness racing continues tonight (June 8) at the Big M, with a 6:20 p.m. first race post time.

(Meadowlands)