Branded By Lindy will go for his eighth consecutive win when he faces nine rivals in Friday’s $600,000 Breeders Crown for two-year-old male trotters.
The Domenico Cecere-trained colt is the 9-5 morning line favourite and will start from post three with driver Yannick Gingras.
A son of Chapter Seven out of The Lindy Label, Branded By Lindy has won eight of 10 starts for owner Lindy Farms of Connecticut. His triumphs included divisions of the Bluegrass and International Stallion stakes and the Kentucky Commonwealth Series final.
He won his Breeders Crown elimination by 2-3/4 lengths over Kentucky Championship Series winner Double Deceiver in 1:53.
“We always thought he was a nice horse,” Cecere said. “We had a little bit of early issues. It wasn’t much. He just really wasn’t strong yet. When we moved to Lexington, he started to get stronger and stronger. He showed me in Lexington that he was the real deal.
“He’s a nice horse, a great horse. He is making our job much easier. I don’t think we saw the end of the tank. Now, we dream for (the final).”
Lucas Wallin-trained Rebuff, who won his elimination by 2-1/4 lengths over Gigondas in 1:53.4, is the 4-1 second choice followed by Testing Testing, who captured his elim by 1-1/4 lengths over Majestic J in 1:53.4, at 5-1. George Ducharme, who trains Testing Testing, entered Wednesday with 999 career victories.
Testing Testing, a son of Walner-Sound Check, will start from post two with Andy McCarthy. He has won four of seven races for owners Bill Donovan, Purnel & Libby, Joe Sbrocco, and Jim Winske.
“I was very happy with him,” Ducharme said. “I thought he raced very good. Hopefully, that sets him up good for the final. That was a good field, and he did it comfortably. He wasn’t asked for too much in the stretch, he did it more on his own. I’m very happy. We’ll see what happens.”
Rebuff, by Muscle Hill out of Meucci Madness, will start from post four with Tim Tetrick. He has won three of 10 races for owners Wallin, Kjell Andersen, and Pieter Delis.
“He was very talented from the beginning, but he was very, very green,” Wallin said. “We took our time and raced him from behind and it is paying off.”
The Breeders Crown final for two-year-old male trotters is race six Friday, the first of the card’s four Breeders Crown championships for two-year-olds. Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. (EDT). To view the entries, click on the following link: Friday Entries - Meadowlands Racetrack.
(USTA)