“Hopefully, we’re fresher than some of them. We haven’t gone the fast miles some of the other horses have gone. We haven’t stretched this horse out. We think he fits in there pretty decent. Hopefully, we can make the final. That’s what it’s all about, or we wouldn’t be here.”

The connections of Star Recruit believe they have a nice horse for the $600,000 Delvin Miller Adios. On Saturday, when two eliminations are held at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, they will begin to see if they are correct.

Star Recruit, trained by Bruce Riegle with Mike Wilder listed to drive, drew post two in the second of two eliminations for the Adios, which is one of harness racing’s top events for three-year-old pacers. Also in Star Recruit’s elim division are Bolt The Duer, McAttaboy, Allstar Legend, Breakin The Law, Ezpass Hanover, Hillbilly Hanover, Dapper Dude, and Bettor’s Edge.

The first four finishers from each elimination division will advance to the final on July 28 at The Meadows.

“We’ve been kind of pointing him toward this race all year,” said Riegle, who conditions the colt. “Right now he should be pretty close to being at his best. This is the American dream. You get a nice colt and you think maybe I’ve got a shot. You don’t know until you try.”

Star Recruit is a son of Dragon Again, out of the mare Remarkable Star. He was purchased for $19,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale and is owned by trainer/driver Steve Carter, Peggy Carter, Robert Reid and Chuck Grubbs.

Carter trained down Star Recruit before sending him to Riegle to race in Pennsylvania, where he has won three times on the sire stakes circuit – twice last year and once this season – and also captured a division of the Reynolds Memorial last season.

“He was nice right off the bat,” Riegle said. “He covered the ground easily and he loved to race. There wasn’t too much not to like about him.”

For his career, Star Recruit has won eight of 21 races and earned $331,698. He has finished on the board 18 times, including a third-place finish in last year’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship, where he was beaten a length by Sweet Lou, and a second-place effort in the American-National Stakes.

“He’s not maybe a great horse, but he’s awful consistent,” said Riegle, who ranks fourth in wins this year among trainers at The Meadows. “Whenever he’s had to step up to race against tougher horses, he has. That’s one thing that’s nice about him.

“I think he should be pretty handy with that group he’s in with. In all fairness, that other division is the tougher division by far.”

The field for the first elim includes Meadowlands Pace winner A Rocknroll Dance, North America Cup winner Thinking Out Loud, last season’s division champion Sweet Lou, and world champion Hurrikane Kingcole. Rounding out the group is Escape The News, E Z Noah, Special Forces, Bakin On The Beach, and One Through Ten.

In Star Recruit’s most recent race, July 7, he won a division of the Pennsylvania All-Stars in a personal-best 1:51.4 over a sloppy surface at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

“His record (time) is deceiving,” Riegle said. “That was in the mud and that track had to be at least two seconds off that night."

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.