High earners and top performers Celebrity Bambino and Chase H Hanover won their respective qualifying races on Saturday morning, April 13 at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Celebrity Bambino and Yannick Gingras made their second 2024 qualifying start on Saturday, from post four in a field of six. Gingras and the Ron Burke student took the pocket trip behind Chaplind (Trond Smedshammer) through panels in :30.4, 1:01.3 and 1:30.3. In the final turn, Celebrity Bambino took over and kept going to win by 6-1/4 lengths in 1:57.4. Loxahatchee (Marcus Melander) completed the top three.
The four-year-old son of Muscle Hill out of the Archangel mare Celebrity Ruth is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, J&T Silva Stables LLC, Knox Services Inc., and Phillip Collura. Celebrity Bambino has made 28 career starts, yielding a record of 10-4-4 and $1,009,290 in earnings.
Chase H Hanover made his third 2024 appearance after finishing third in The Meadows' Open Handicap on Jan. 5 and then finishing fourth in his return qualifying session at The Meadows last week on April 6. On Saturday, the six-year-old gelded son of Captaintreacherous out of the Western Ideal mare Calgary Hanover won his qualifier from gate-to-wire in 1:52 for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr.
David Miller took the gelding to the gate on the rail. The pair left and the field remained single file throughout panels in :28.4, :57.3 and 1:25.3. El Rey (Dexter Dunn) posed a threat in the final steps towards the wire, but Chase H Hanover prevailed by a neck. Voukefalas (Jordan Stratton) finished third and Southwind Gendry (Yannick Gingras) completed the field in fourth.
Chase H Hanover is nearing the $1 million milestone, with $926,709 banked. His record stands at 22-15-10 in 77 career starts. Odds On Racing and Carl Howard own the gelding.
The card also featured winners Sambuca Hanover (2:01.1, David Miller), a winner of $276,467 for trainer Nifty Norman; Bugaboo Lou (1:51.2, Dexter Dunn), a winner of $178,770 for trainer Burke; Flawless (1:53, Andy McCarthy), a winner of $106,349 for trainer Nancy Takter; and Wish You Well (1:54.2, Dexter Dunn), a winner of $196,485 for trainer Norman.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Celebrity Bambino from a previous win on July 29, 2023)