Breakfast With The Babies, sponsored by Fashion Farms, got underway over a fast surface at The Meadowlands at 9 a.m. on a bright, sunny Friday morning, departing from the Saturday tradition. The temperature was a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius but a considerable breeze, bordering on gusty wind, was in the horses' faces through the homestretch. Joe Romanelli called the action.
The day began with colt pacers and Tony Alagna sent out a winner with his first freshman foray of the season in Drink To That (Todd McCarthy). The Tall Dark Stranger-Tall Drink Hanover colt stood “tall” in the stretch, charging by on his own in a :28 sprint to end the 1:56.1 mile. Be Sting (Dave Miller) was a grinding first over to be a solid second under some Miller stretch rousing.
Drink To That is largely a Marvin Katz, Riverview Racing (Myron and Stephanie Bell), Tony Alagna homebred who passed through the Lexington sale for $63,514 with Tony not retaining an interest.
Waldon Fashion (Todd McCarthy) was super impressive in her second Meadowlands win. Taken back to third in the early going, McCarthy slid the Jim Campbell-trained filly out late in turn two, engaged the leader and marched on by resolutely under no encouragement in 1:58.2, home in 28 seconds with Naachtun (Dexter Dunn) following along in second. The Walner filly from Broadway Donna is a Fashion Farms homebred.
The Courant, Inc. homebred Next Big Think (Dunn) flashed good foot through the stretch, emerging from the pocket to flash by the leader and rolled on through the wire, ending the 1:57.3 mile with a 28 second close into the wind. R Holly (Scott Zeron) closed it up nicely late to be second. Next Big Think is a Greenshoe daughter of Iteration, a multiple stakes winning sister to Gimpanzee, trained by Marcus Melander.
Around $2 million worth of filly trotters teed it up in the fourth race with the modestly-priced $81,081 Lexington lass Ygritte (Dunn) setting all the fractions and holding off the stretch close of the great Manchego’s little sister Patrona (Yannick Gingras) in 1:59. SRF Stable and Erik Good own Ygritte, a daughter of Gimpanzee bred by Ab Svensk Reklamfinans also trained by Melander.
Ake Svanstedt drove the Wishing Stone colt Magic Punk to 1:59.1 win in race five. Settling in second early on through moderate fractions then tipping off the leader as they turned home, Magic Punk went by easily then held off the serious late charge of It Could Be Worse (Zeron) with a :28.2 final panel. Magic Punk, Inc. owns the Swedish-bred colt.
It sure looked like Ake was well on his way to another when he put Lion Hearted on the lead from the word go and was cruising mid-stretch when suddenly Onassis (Gingras) had him in his sights and went by through the :28.4 end to the 2:02.2 mile. Also of note was the solid close from Miguel (Jimmy Takter) the Propulsion half to last year’s Hambletonian winner Karl. A son of Greenshoe, Onassis is a $180,556 Lexington sale graduate from Sherrys Lady, trained by Nancy Takter and owned by Michael Cote Gagnon’s One Legend Racing, Joe Sbrocco and John Fodera as JAF Racing. Coyote Wynd Farm is the breeder.
Sarah Svanstedt had nary an anxious moment with Mr Penner in the seventh, putting the Captain Corey colt on the lead from the word go, continued through comfortable numbers then set him down for the drive to hold off Trumptactical (Josert Fonseca) through the :28.3 end to the 1:59.3 effort. A $270,270 Lexington yearling, Mr Penner is owned by breeders Ake Svanstedt, Inc., Jeff Gural as Little E, LLC, along with Tristan Sjoberg as Knutsson Trotting, Inc.
Nuance (Mattias Melander) was a solid 2:02 winner, emerging from a pocket ride to track down stablemate Noble Encore (Dunn) and repel the close of Baileys Breeze (Zeron) through the 29 second end of the mile. This Marcus Melander-trained daughter of Greenshoe-Hillarmbro was a $430,556 Hanover-bred yearling purchased at Harrisburg by Courant, Inc.
Scott Zeron drove Nightcap Mearas S to a sharp 1:59.2 for trainer Lucas Wallin in the ninth. Content to follow Iberia IT through consistent fractions, Zeron tipped the Walner filly to the outside off the second turn, ground by the leader then held sway over Kate (Svanstedt) through the :29.4 final quarter. Snogarps Gard, Inc. is the owner and breeder of the winner.
Pacers came along in the 10th and Bookie J (Dunn) was a 1:58 winner from just off the pace. Following the lead of Prime Hanover, then Caviart Cadet, Bookie J fanned for the drive and powered by through the 28 second final split. Caviart Cadet (Todd McCarthy) held second with a closing Treacherous (Zeron) rolling in third. Kenny Jacobs owns and Chris Ryder trains the winner — a Yankeeland Partners-bred yearling from the first crop of Perfect Sting that fetched $67,568 at Lexington.
Todd McCarthy steered Up In Place, a son of Lather Up, to a sharp 1:57.1 win for Alagna in the 11th race. Third in the early going a Watchfire (Andy McCarthy) set steady fractions, Up In Place accelerated quickly when shown racetrack and roared by through the :28.1 end well in hand. John Barnard owns the homebred winner.
Svanstedt Stable sent out a pacer to win Race 12 when Snackcident (Dunn) set all the fractions and fought off the stretch challenge of Caviart Madrid (Gingras) in 1:56.4. The Papi Rob Hanover filly was a $69,444 Harrisburg yearling, bred by Hanover and owned by the trainer in partnership with Roger Jansson.
JK Fierce Lady won at first asking today for driver Dunn, right to the top at a :30 beat then a nice 28 second sprint home to score over Wave Dancer (Zeron) in 1:57.2. Nancy Takter trains the Captaintreacherous homebred, first foal of world champion JK First Lady, for Alan & Ronald Katz racing as 3 Brothers Stable.
The freshman finale on the day was all Lochinvar Matilda and Lauren Tritton from go to whoa in 1:56.4. Right to the front and on a strong lead throughout, Matilda was way the best and the rest of the girls couldn’t catch up through the :28.1 final stanza. Lousbodaciousgirl (Zeron) came the closest with a late rally to get second. Shane Tritton trains the Captaintreacherous filly, and he and Lauren own as Team Tritton. The pacer was a $47,297 Lexington purchase from breeders Spring Haven Farm and Doug Millard.
Live harness racing continues tonight at The Meadowlands with a first post time of 6:20 p.m., opening with a Pick 5 carryover of $22,989 on Races 1-5.
(with files from The Meadowlands)