The Meadowlands Racetrack has announced that post positions have been drawn for the inaugural $150,000 Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff, which will be the highlight of the track’s Mother’s Day program this Sunday (May 8).
The Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff is a Grand Circuit event. It will be the featured first race on the special matinee card. The race will head to post at 12:40 p.m.
The race will feature nine of the continent's finest trotters. The collective earnings of the starters is in excess of $12 million.
The idea for the Elitlopp Playoff was conceived last August when directors Christer Haggstrom and Markus Myron of Solvalla Racecourse visited the Meadowlands for Hambletonian week. During their stay, they met with Jeff Gural, Jason Settlemoir and Sam McKee to discuss ways the Elitlopp and Meadowlands trotting stakes may better complement one and other.
After much discussion and considerable effort on the part of both organizations, a brand new international racing bridge was created. Solvalla officials will be on hand Sunday to present the winner with an invitation to compete in the Elitlopp on Sunday, May 29 at Solvalla Racecourse in Stockholm, Sweden.
The idea to memorialize the great Mack Lobell, a two-time winner of the Elitlopp, with the race title was submitted by a racing fan via one of racing’s social media initiatives.
The talented field includes Bee A Magician, the undefeated Horse of the Year in 2013 and, at $3.7 million, currently the third leading money winning female trotter of all-time. The six-year-old daughter of Kadabra has won 42 of her 66 career starts for owners Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and Dave McDuffee.
‘Queen Bee’ has perhaps never looked better than her first 2016 start, an easy 1:52 win with her final quarter charted in :26.1. She has been trained throughout her illustrious career by Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman. Her regular driver, Brian Sears, will handle the duties from Post 7 on Sunday.
JL Cruze was the rags to riches story of 2015. He was plucked from the 2014 Harrisburg fall sale for a mere $37,000 by trainer Eric Ell on behalf of owners Ken Wood, Bill Ditmar and Steve Iaquinta. JL Cruze started his 2015 season by winning his way through the winter series program at the Meadowlands and never stopped. By year’s end, he had annexed the $250,000 Graduate Series final in a world and Meadowlands track record 1:49.4 and the $443,000 Hambletonian Maturity on his way to over $600,000 in earnings and Trotter of the Year recognition south of the border.
JL Cruze has returned in fine form as well, as he has won all three of his 2016 starts in 1:53.2 or faster. He also won a qualifier in 1:53 this past Saturday. JL Cruze will start from Post 1 for Hall of Fame driver John Campbell, who was aboard for all of last year’s successes.
The race also includes two of Sweden’s most accomplished expatriate trainers in Jimmy Takter and Ake Svanstedt.
Shake It Cerry has drawn the far outside (Post 9) for trainer Takter. A winner of $2.4 million for Solveig’s Racing Partners, Shake It Cerry was crowned Trotter of the Year in 2014 while winning virtually every major stakes event at ages two and three. Hall of Famer David Miller is her driver.
Svanstedt trains and drives Resolve, the winner of the TVG FFA Championship final and over $700,000 last year for owner Hans Enggren. The Muscle Hill five-year-old has drawn Post 5 for the race.
The Meadowlands’ leading trainer, Ron Burke, will send out a triumvirate of accomplished trotters. DWs NY Yank will be driven by Matt Kakaley from Post 2 for Burke Racing, Howard Taylor and Weaver Bruscemi. The 2014 New York Sire Stakes champ Gural Hanover (to be driven by Yannick Gingras from Post 6) races for Burke, Weaver Bruscemi, Little E and Panhellenic; while multiple 2015 Grand Circuit stakes winner Crazy Wow (Tim Tetrick, Post 8) will start for Our Horse Cents, JT 45, J&T Silva and Deo Volente Farms.
Wind Of The North is also scheduled to start. He actually made the trip over for last year’s Elitlopp during a successful 2015 campaign in which he collected over a quarter-million dollars for owners Jenny Bier and Joann Dombeck. Wind Of The North will come in from Pompano Park where he’s had a successful start to his season – he has won two of three starts for trainer Daryl Bier. The conditioner has enlisted George Brennan to drive on Sunday.
Obrigado continues to live a fairy tale. He emerged from virtual obscurity – despite championship seasons in Maine at two and three – to a respected national presence. He picked up over $400,000 with his Crawford Farms FFA at Vernon Downs win the seasonal highlight for trainer Paul Kelley, who owns the six-year-old Boy Band gelding with Linwood Higgins, SRF Stable and Stable 45. Mark MacDonald is the driver.
The first seven Meadowlands races on Sunday’s card will be simulcast to Sweden, with Races 1-6 (all trots) constituting the V64 Pick-Six wager for that day, and the seventh being the $25,000 Open Pace with Takter trainee Always B Miki among the entrants.
Post positions for the $150,000 Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff appear below.
$150,000 Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff
(Post – Horse – Listed Driver - Trainer)
1 – JL Cruze – John Campbell – Eric Ell
2 – DWs NY Yank – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke
3 – Wind Of The North – George Brennan – Daryl Bier
4 – Resolve – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt
5 – Obrigado – Mark MacDonald – Paul Kelley
6 – Gural Hanover – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke
7 – Bee A Magaician – Brian Sears – Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman
8 – Crazy Wow – Tim Tetrick – Ron Burke
9 – Shake It Cerry – David Miller – Jimmy Takter
(Meadowlands)