With two of 2024's top ranked Standardbreds in action — including the winterbook favourite for the 2025 Hambletonian — the qualifying session on Saturday, May 24 at The Meadowlands once again featured no shortage of star power.
The morning kicked off, as customary, on the trot with 2024 Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winner Maryland in his first charted mile of the season. But it was Go Dog Go and driver Todd McCarthy snatching the spotlight with a sharp 1:54.2 score after a :26.2 final quarter. Gap Kronos S (Ake Svanstedt) and Uno (Anibal Borjas) completed the top trio, with Maryland an unstressed fourth for driver Dexter Dunn.
Carter Pinske trains Go Dog Go for Wiesman Farms LLC of Middle River, Md. and Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont. The Hambletonian-eligible son of Greenshoe - Primary Target posted a 2-2-2 summary from 10 starts in 2024 with $422,909 in earnings.
Captain Albano made his second qualifying appearance of the season on Saturday morning, and like Maryland wasn't first across the wire on this occasion. That rival, Funtime Bayama, has had a few more charted miles in 2025 and was last seen hitting the wire first in the Canadian Graduate Final on May 3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. In a likely prep for the Graduate Series at Mohawk next Saturday, Funtime Bayama and driver Dunn scored in 1:52.2 after closing in :26.3. Remember The Alamo (Jordan Stratton) was next best Captain Albano third for Todd McCarthy.
A nine-time winner in his career with more than $454,000 in earnings, Funtime Bayama (Hes Watching - Tymal Sugarbabydoll) is owned by trainer Andrew Harris along with Bill Pollock and Bruce Areman of Freehold, N.J.
The fastest qualifier of the morning came courtesy Pepsi North America Cup-eligible American Son, making his second appearance after minor throat surgery according to trainer Chris Ryder. American Son and Dunn watched fellow Cup-eligible Papis Pistol (Andy Miller) carve out fractions of :28.4, :56 and 1:23.2 and then kicked home in :27.2 to best Papis Pistol by more than three lengths in 1:51.
Ryder trains American Son (American Ideal - Lady Captain) for Henderson Farms of Chicago, Ill. Never finishing worse than third (4-2-2) in eight career appearances, American Son sports a mark of 1:49.3 with $239,972 in earnings.
Full qualifying results are available here.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Go Dog Go winning at The Red Mile)