Bee A Magician Makes Cutler History

While there is a long history of brilliant mares defeating the older horses at the Free For All trotting level in harness racing, it had never happened in the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial. That all changed on a rainy Saturday night at The Meadowlands.

Bee A Magician, the overwhelming 4-5 favourite, did what had yet to be done as she emerged victorious winning the $183,650 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial in 1:51.2. She became the first mare in the 17-year history of the race to win the historic event.

Shortly after the start heading into the first turn, Market Share and Master Of Law appeared to have contact and Market Share went off-stride, just as he did in the Cutler last year. Bee A Magician avoided the trouble and Brian Sears allowed his former Horse of the Year to relax off the early speed, which was established by Wind Of The North, who reached the first quarter in a very strong :26.4.

As the field straightened up on the backstretch, Sears felt the time was right to move his mare to the top and she responded with a strong brush, reaching the lead before the half-mile in :55.2. Wind Of The North yielded to the pocket position.

Moving into the far turn, DWs NY Yank moved first over while Meladys Monet, who had been such a force this year at The Meadowlands, fought to catch his cover on the turn. Bee A Magician reached the three-quarter pole in 1:23.4 and turned for home with a comfortable lead.

DWs NY Yank never got close to the mare and began to tire. Wind Of The North came out of the pocket and tried to rally, but never appeared a threat as Meladys Monet moved into third. Brian Sears never asked his mare through the stretch and she coasted to an easy win in 1:51.2. Wind Of The North finished second with Meladys Monet third. It was the same result as the week prior in the prep for the Cutler final.

Sears was very proud of Bee A Magician after the race.

“She’s just such a pleasure,” said Sears. “Last year was tough for her, there was a lot of traveling and it was a long season. But right now, she is just really fresh and really sharp. It is hard to keep them this sharp all year long, but hopefully she keeps going forward.”

Bee A Magician won for the 34th time in 50 lifetime starts and her lifetime earnings surpassed $2.9 million (U.S). With the win, she became the third richest trotting mare in harness racing history, trailing only the magnificent Peace Corps and the legendary Moni Maker. She is trained by Nifty Norman for Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee.

While Bee A Magician was the best story of the night, the race of the night went to the Free For All pacers in the first leg of the TVG Free For All Pacing Series for $50,000.

A select field of six went to the post with all the speed coming from the outside early as JK Endofanera blasted to the front and reached the opening quarter in :27.3. Warrawee Needy moved to the pocket early on with Dovuto Hanover securing the three-hole early on. But Sears wasn’t content with his position and he moved Dovuto Hanover to challenge for the lead down the backstretch. James MacDonald had similar thoughts with O'Brien Award winner Modern Legend and he launched his gelding three-wide past the half-mile in :54.4.

Modern Legend cleared the top and opened up nearly three lengths on Dovuto Hanover, while JK Endofanera was shuffled back as Modern Legend reached three-quarters in 1:21.2 and turned for home in command. At this point, Doo Wop Hanover was making a three-wide move from the back of the pack as Modern Legend began to come back to the field. JK Endofanera found room between horses and began to re-rally through the stretch. As the wire neared, these three lined up together and they finished three across the track in a thrilling photo finish in 1:48.4. The win photograph revealed the nose of JK Endofanera reached the finish line first, with Modern Legend second and Doo Wop Hanover third.

JK Endofanera earned over $1.1 million last year with a victory in the North America Cup among his wins. His lifetime earnings surpassed $1.5 million (U.S.) with the victory tonight for trainer Ron Burke and the 3 Brothers Stables. Yannick Gingras was in the sulky for his fourth winner of the night; he would also win the nightcap to make it five wins on the program.

Artspeak’s road to the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace began in impressive fashion with a sharp 1:49 score in the first round of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at The Meadowlands on Saturday night.

Competing in the first of two $20,000 divisions, Artspeak had been the subject of some attention given his performances in the mornings at The Meadowlands as he geared up for his three-year-old campaign. It had been documented that Artspeak made a break in a training mile at the end of April at the East Rutherford, New Jersey oval and he also went off-stride in his subsequent qualifier. Last week, Artspeak went around the track while remaining flat, but was beaten nearly nine lengths by Lyons Levi Lewis. All that did was produce a better than expected 3-2 final price and Artspeak simply dominated.

Allowed to settle off the speed early in the mile, Artspeak sat fourth through a :27.3 opening quarter established by Gokudo Hanover. Scott Zeron did not waste any time, sending his champion to the lead down the backstretch. Artspeak reached the half-mile in :55 and three-quarters in a sharp 1:22.1 before turning for home and turning it on. Gokudo Hanover sat the pocket behind Artspeak throughout the mile, but was never a threat to the favourite and all he could do was chase him through the stretch as Artspeak hit the wire in 1:49, a lifetime-best effort. Dealt A Winner was well-back in third.

Artspeak was voted the two-year-old pacing champion last year in both Canada and U.S., winning eight times from 10 starts with earnings of nearly $750,000 (U.S.). He is trained by Tony Alagna for Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and In The Gym Partners.

The other $20,000 Sire Stakes division featured a field of seven that were all exiting first or second-place finishes. The bettors settled on Hurrikane Ali as their favourite and they were right as he scored a decisive 1:50 score for Gingras.

Sent off at 3-5, Hurrikane Ali cleared the lead just before the half-mile pole and streaked through fractions of :55.3 and 1:23.2 before facing a challenge from Rock N Roll Word, who appeared to be full of pace in the pocket, but Hurrikane Ali was never letting that foe by and he rolled to a very impressive victory.

Hurrikane Ali, also a Cup eligible colt, is now two-for-two on the season with earnings over $55,000 in his career. The 1:50 clocking was a lifetime-best effort for the John McDermott Jr. trainee. The winner is owned by Kuhen Racing, Jonathan Klee Racing, Dr. Kenneth Rucker and Robert Pucila.

The fillies also competed in Sire Stakes action and Lindys Old Lady is a filly whose star is on the rise at The Meadowlands. The homebred daughter of Rocknroll Hanover has begun her career a perfect two-for-two after Saturday night’s win in New Jersey Sire Stakes action.

The Lindy homebred showed good speed to reach the pocket behind the early pacesetter, Crescent City. Tim Tetrick quickly guided his filly out of the pocket after an opening quarter in :27.2 and cleared the lead down the backstretch. From there, Lindys Old Lady soared through a :56.1 half-mile before reaching three-quarters in 1:23.3 with no pressure whatsoever. Turning for home, Tetrick called on his filly for speed and she responded, accelerating away from the field to win going away in an impressive 1:51, lowering her lifetime mark from her first lifetime start. Cheyenne Robin rallied to be second with Wicked Little Minx showing good late speed to finish third.

The winner is owned by the breeder, Lindy Farms of Connecticut, and is trained by Frank Antonacci.

The second $20,000 Sire Stakes division for three-year-old filly pacers saw a prohibitive 1-5 favourite in the form of Happiness and the chalk did not disappoint.

Leaving from post position four, Happiness was sent right to the lead by Gingras and she would never relinquish that lead. The three-year-old daughter of Rocknroll Hanover rolled through fractions of :27.4, :56.1 and 1:23.4 before turning for home with an expanding lead. Hollyrocker, who sat the pocket throughout the mile could not kick home with the winner and faded to third in the stretch. Meanwhile, Stacia Hanover, who was last until the top of the stretch, uncorked a tremendous late rally to finish a very good second, validating her form. But, she was left with too much to do to get to the winner.

Happiness has now won five times from nine starts for Ron Burke, who trains and co-owns the filly with Weaver Bruscemi LLC. Happiness’ earnings grew to over $67,000 with the victory.

On the wagering front, total handle for the Saturday program was $3,099,409.

Both Jackpot Super Hi-5 carryovers continued to grow after the conclusion of the Saturday program. The fifth race carryover now stands at $124,509, while the last race jackpot grew to $96,746. Racing resumes on Friday night with first post time at 7:15 p.m.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)