Nancy Takter had to bid adieu to a number of talented performers at the conclusion of the 2020 season that garnered her U.S. Trainer of the Year honours. But as the 2021 stakes season for older horses appears on the horizon, the conditioner unleashed a trifecta of new additions during Saturday's session of qualifiers at The Meadowlands.
After setting world records and winning divisional honours over his two years in Ohio, four-year-old ocean Rock made his debut from the Takter barn. With Tim Tetrick at the controls, Ocean Rock came first up after a tepid :58.3 opening half, stalked pacesetter Snobbytown (Yannick Gingras) through a 1:27.2 third station and sprinted home in :26.2 to win by a half-length in 1:53.4.
A homebred owned by Sandra Burnett of Wilmington, Oh., Ocean Rock (Rockin Amadeus - Ocean Pearl) hit the board nine times in 10 sophomore starts, winning six of them while earning $363,360. As a freshman, he paced the flying turns at Northfield Park in 1:51.1 to establish a world record for two-year-old geldings on a half-mile track.
Takter also successfully sent out a pair of older pacing horses that were among those made eligible to the COVID-cancelled 2020 edition of the MGM Borgata (FKA George Morton Levy Memorial) Series. After a number of outside posts and off-the-board finishes at Yonkers Raceway in January, eight-year-old San Domino A uncorked a wire-to-wire 1:51 scorcher for driver Todd McCarthy and owners Joe P Racing LLC, Delray Beach, Fl. and Oldford Racing LLC of Port Huron, Mich.
Not to be outdone, None Bettor A also made his debut for Joe P Racing, Oldford Racing & Takter after an impressive 1:50.2 performance for trainer Jimmy MacDonald in Pompano on Feb. 15. With Todd McCarthy at the controls once again, None Bettor A lived up to his lofty moniker with an extremely impressive on-the-engine 1:50.1 effort.
To view the results from the Saturday qualifiers at The meadowlands, click the following link: Saturday Results - The Meadowlands (Qualifiers).