It's usually tough to concentrate when there is a full-blown concert in your vicinity. Young trotters usually do not thrive on pulsating electronic music, especially when it is pounded through massive sound systems to tens of thousands of revelers. In the case of Little Brown Fox, trainer Jimmy Takter is chalking the instance up as a learning experience
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The concert, or festival, in question was the recent Electric Daisy Festival, which took place on the weekend of May 18 at Metlife Stadium, which is situated beside the Meadowlands Racetrack in the northern New Jersey complex.
The race in question was a May 18 opening-round division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Big M. The test was the first pari-mutuel outing of 2012 for the Muscles Yankee colt, which came after a pair of victorious qualifying efforts.
“He’s gotten bigger and stronger (since last year), and he’s a top-level colt,” Takter told the Meadowlands Racetrack about Little Brown Fox. “He qualified well and beat some good horses in those [qualifiers]. With a loud concert next door he got a little nervous and anxious in the paddock prior to his first race back. I almost lost him behind the gate, but he was more comfortable before he won last week (a nose victory in 1:54.1 during the second leg at the Meadowlands)."
Takter went on to say, "This horse has a lot of ability and I expect him to be right up there with the top colts.”
In addition to Little Brown Fox, Takter will also send Guccio postward for the $150,000 NJSS final, one of four rich sire stakes finals that will highlight the Meadowlands' Saturday, June 2 program of live racing.
After having won qualifiers in 1:56.1 and 1:54.2, Guccio romped in his opening-round NJSS split in 1:55.1 with Takter in the bike. The son of Yankee Glide skipped the second leg of the series.
The four NJSS finals will complementing the track’s first 'Made In New Jersey Weekend.' The festival will feature the state’s best arts and crafts vendors, a 'battle of the bands,' craft beer and wine tastings, and BBQ competition in Paddock Park from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
(With files from the Meadowlands)